Title: The indication of creativity and its effect on the probability of success of crowdfunding projects

Authors: Carolin Bock; Daniel Dilmetz

Addresses: Institute of Entrepreneurship, Department of Law and Economics, TU Darmstadt, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany ' Institute of Entrepreneurship, Department of Law and Economics, TU Darmstadt, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany

Abstract: The growing importance of crowdfunding as a fundraising option alongside traditional forms of financing resulted in an emerging stream of literature that examines the mechanisms for increasing the probability of success of crowdfunding propositions. A significant part of this literature focuses on the examination of signals that entrepreneurs can provide to reduce information asymmetries. We extend this research by investigating the proactive communication of the creativity within crowdfunding projects as a potential signal for success. Using 39,718 campaigns from Kickstarter, we investigate the occurrence of words associated with creativity and the resulting influence on the probability of success. Our results show that the proactive communication of the creativity of the projects can have a positive influence on the probability of a successful fundraising campaign. We also provide evidence that the communication of creativity can be influenced by other signals, depending on the context in which these signals are used.

Keywords: success probability; crowdfunding; creativity; entrepreneurship; signalling theory; kickstarter.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2022.127449

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2022 Vol.14 No.4/5, pp.527 - 570

Received: 15 Jan 2021
Accepted: 13 Jan 2022
Published online: 05 Dec 2022 *

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