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No politics in funding pitches: An expectancy violations theory perspective of entrepreneurs' political expressions in crowdfunding

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  • Chandler, Jeffrey A.
  • Anglin, Aaron H.
  • Kanwal, Fizza
  • Short, Jeremy C.

Abstract

Drawing from expectancy violation theory, we investigate how entrepreneurs' language-based expressions of their political ideology influence the performance of their crowdfunding campaigns. We argue that crowdfunding funders expect campaigns to be apolitical, suggesting that entrepreneurs' expressing their political ideologies – regardless of the specific ideology – create a negative expectancy violation that decreases funding performance. As source credibility is a central boundary condition for expectancy violation theory predictions, we also suggest this relationship is mitigated by three indicators of entrepreneurial credibility: prior successful experience, media usage, and third-party endorsements. Using a sample of 19,898 Kickstarter campaigns and a randomized experiment, we find support for our theoretical predictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Chandler, Jeffrey A. & Anglin, Aaron H. & Kanwal, Fizza & Short, Jeremy C., 2024. "No politics in funding pitches: An expectancy violations theory perspective of entrepreneurs' political expressions in crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:39:y:2024:i:1:s0883902623000794
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106365
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