This paper extends academic literature on reward-based crowdfunding and examines the influence of entrepreneurial rhetoric on campaign performance through the lens of the social role theory. It explores how altruistic values shared by its participants redefine the social role of an entrepreneur. It demonstrates how this peculiarity can be exploited in favour of various disadvantaged demographic groups through an appropriate use of the language reflective of virtuous and entrepreneurial orientations.
Despite their apparent importance, these two types of rhetoric have been largely neglected by scholars studying online funding platforms. Based on a quantitative analysis of 8,459 Kickstarter campaigns using a multilevel regression technique, the author discovered that virtuous orientation has a positive and entrepreneurial orientation negative effect on reward-based crowdfunding performance. Furthermore, in line with the social role theory, Caucasian women and racial minority men benefit greater than white males from the use of virtuous rhetoric and get punished more for using entrepreneurial rhetoric.
However, these effects are reversed for racial minority females, who appear to be rewarded for violating the behaviour associated with their sex and race. Overall, the findings confirm that rhetoric is an important tool at entrepreneurs’ disposal, and they can improve their chances of success in reward-based crowdfunding by using it appropriately and in accordance with their social role.
Crowdfunding is on course to become the leading source of capital for new venture financing, which is one of the most challenging tasks entrepreneurs have to face. Notwithstanding considerable progress, our understanding of its underlying processes remains inadequate.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Theory development and hypotheses
2.1 Crowdfunding overview
2.2 Virtuous and entrepreneurial orientation rhetoric
2.3 Social role theory
2.4 Social role theory, VO and EO rhetoric, and reward-based crowdfunding
2.4.1 VO and EO rhetoric, and reward-based crowdfunding
2.4.2 Sex, VO and EO rhetoric, and reward-based crowdfunding
2.4.3 Race, VO and EO rhetoric, and reward-based crowdfunding
2.4.4 Attractiveness, VO and EO rhetoric, and reward-based crowdfunding
2.4.5 Age, VO and EO rhetoric, and reward-based crowdfunding
3 Methodology
3.1 Sample and data collection
3.1 Dependent variables
3.2 Independent variables
3.4 Control variables
3.5 Moderating variables
3.6 Statistical analysis
4 Results
4.1 Main analysis
4.2 Robustness checks
4.3 Interaction of multiple demographic characteristics
5 Discussion
5.1 Limitations and future research
6 Conclusion
Research Objectives and Topics
This master's thesis examines the influence of virtuous and entrepreneurial orientation rhetoric on campaign performance in reward-based crowdfunding, utilizing social role theory to understand how demographic characteristics like sex, race, attractiveness, and age moderate these effects.
- The impact of virtuous (VO) and entrepreneurial (EO) orientation rhetoric on crowdfunding success.
- Application of social role theory to explain performance disparities among different demographic groups.
- Quantitative analysis of 8,459 Kickstarter campaigns using multilevel regression techniques.
- The interaction between rhetoric and founder demographics (sex, race, age, attractiveness).
- Generalizability of entrepreneurship theories within the unique context of online funding platforms.
Excerpt from the Book
2.3 Social role theory
The concept of a role is one of the most prominent topics in social sciences (Biddle, 1986; Vogel, Wester, Heesacker, & Madon, 2003). It originally emerged as an attempt to explain why representatives of the two sexes act differently in various settings. Thus, in her pioneering work, Eagly (1987) argued that such differences stem from the division of labor that can be traced to our distant ancestors. For example, men assumed the role of a hunter, protector and warrior as they were usually physically bigger and stronger than women who, on the other hand, normally took care of the household and raised children (Peterson & Hyde, 2014). As a result, by observing such differences in performed tasks throughout history, societies developed certain gender stereotypes and expectations associated with each sex. For example, males are usually expected to be masculine and viewed as agentic i.e., confident and competitive. Females, the other hand, are expected to be feminine and viewed as communal i.e., nurturing and caring (Eagly, 1987). An important distinction needs to be made here that gender (e.g., feminine) is socially constructed, whereas sex (e.g., female) is determined by one's surface-level physiological characteristics (Anglin, Wolfe, et al., 2018). Roles are not limited to only gender and there is almost an infinite number of them that one can take on e.g., a racial minority, LGBTQ, mother, entrepreneur etc. (e.g. Anglin, Wolfe, et al., 2018; Sluss, van Dick, & Thompson, 2011). A person's social role has an important implication for how they are perceived and expected to behave by different groups in various contexts. This phenomenon has been extensively studied through the lens of the social role theory in numerous areas of entrepreneurial research (Anglin, Wolfe, et al., 2018; Sluss et al., 2011).
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Introduces the growing phenomenon of reward-based crowdfunding and establishes the research gap regarding the influence of specific rhetorical styles on campaign outcomes.
2 Theory development and hypotheses: Develops the theoretical framework using social role theory to hypothesize how VO and EO rhetoric impact crowdfunding performance across demographic groups.
3 Methodology: Details the sample of 8,459 Kickstarter campaigns and the use of computer-aided text analysis (CATA) to measure rhetoric and performance variables.
4 Results: Presents the findings from multilevel regression analyses, highlighting the varied impact of rhetoric based on founder demographics.
5 Discussion: Interprets the findings within the context of existing literature and discusses how social role theory explains the observed discrepancies.
6 Conclusion: Summarizes the study’s contributions to entrepreneurial research and provides practical recommendations for founders on the platform.
Keywords
Crowdfunding, Kickstarter, Virtuous Orientation, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Rhetoric, Social Role Theory, Campaign Performance, Demographic Characteristics, Sex, Race, Attractiveness, Age, Entrepreneurship, Funding, Text Analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this study?
The study investigates how founders use virtuous and entrepreneurial rhetoric in their crowdfunding campaign narratives and how these rhetorical strategies influence fundraising performance.
What are the central themes of the research?
The work integrates entrepreneurial rhetoric with social role theory to analyze how demographic variables such as sex, race, age, and attractiveness moderate the relationship between communication style and funding outcomes.
What is the main research question?
The research explores how VO and EO rhetoric influence campaign performance in reward-based crowdfunding and how these effects are moderated by a founder's demographic profile.
Which scientific methods were employed?
The author conducted a quantitative analysis on a large dataset of 8,459 Kickstarter campaigns using computer-aided text analysis (CATA) and multilevel generalized linear models (GLM).
What does the main body of the work cover?
It covers theoretical background development, formulation of hypotheses, description of data collection (including face detection AI and text analysis), statistical methodology, and an extensive analysis of the results including three-way interaction effects.
What are the key keywords characterizing this work?
Key terms include crowdfunding, virtuous orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, rhetoric, social role theory, campaign success, and demographic moderation.
Why is social role theory important in this context?
Social role theory provides the lens to understand why certain demographic groups, such as women or racial minorities, face different perceptions and outcomes when using specific types of rhetoric compared to white males.
What unexpected results did the author find regarding racial minority females?
While the study found generally predictable patterns for other groups, racial minority females exhibited surprising results where they performed better with entrepreneurial rhetoric and were seemingly rewarded for violating conventional expectations associated with their social role.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Artem Milkov (Autor:in), 2020, Reward-based Crowdfunding. Influence of Virtuous and Entrepreneurial Orientation Rhetoric on Campaign Performance, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1012613
