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The Narcissism of Crowdfunding Entrepreneurs

Author

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  • H. Bollaert
  • Gaël Leboeuf

    (COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne)

  • Armin Schwienbacher

    (SKEMA Business School)

Abstract

Social networks and personality traits of the entrepreneur affect investors’ willingness to finance start-ups, particularly in reward-based crowdfunding where observable individual characteristics are paramount. We study the impact of crowdfunding entrepreneurs’ narcissism on campaign design and campaign outcome. We distinguish between the ego-defensive behavior and grandiose/arrogant behavior of narcissists in the hypotheses for campaign design. We find that more narcissistic crowdfunding entrepreneurs set less ambitious goals and longer campaign durations, consistent with ego-defensive behavior. We further document that more narcissistic entrepreneurs are less successful than other entrepreneurs, suggesting that crowdfunders recognize the narcissistic tendencies of entrepreneurs and are more reluctant to support them. Our results are consistent with recent conceptual research, suggesting that there are specific effects of narcissism in the early-stage entrepreneurial context.
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  • H. Bollaert & Gaël Leboeuf & Armin Schwienbacher, 2019. "The Narcissism of Crowdfunding Entrepreneurs," Post-Print hal-02126954, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02126954
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    Cited by:

    1. Ivan Savin & Kristina Chukavina & Andrey Pushkarev, 2023. "Topic-based classification and identification of global trends for startup companies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 659-689, February.
    2. Gubik, Andrea S. & Vörös, Zsófia, 2023. "Why narcissists may be successful entrepreneurs: The role of entrepreneurial social identity and overwork," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    3. Rayenda Khresna Brahmana & Maria Kontesa, 2023. "‘No Better Fund Without Me!’ Do Narcissistic Start-up Entrepreneurs Succeed in Venture Funding?," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 32(3), pages 638-666, November.
    4. Fabrice Hervé & Armin Schwienbacher, 2018. "Crowdfunding And Innovation," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 1514-1530, December.
    5. Lien, Wan-Chien & Chen, Jianhong & Sohl, Jeffrey, 2022. "Do I have a big ego? Angel investors' narcissism and investment behaviors," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    6. Dritjon Gruda & Dimitra Karanatsiou & Kanishka Mendhekar & Jennifer Golbeck & Athena Vakali, 2021. "I Alone Can Fix It: Examining interactions between narcissistic leaders and anxious followers on Twitter using a machine learning approach," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 72(11), pages 1323-1336, November.
    7. Alsagr, Naif & Cumming, Douglas J. & Davis, Justin G. & Sewaid, Ahmed, 2023. "Geopolitical risk and crowdfunding performance," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Shuangfa Huang & David Pickernell & Martina Battisti & Thang Nguyen, 2022. "Signalling entrepreneurs’ credibility and project quality for crowdfunding success: cases from the Kickstarter and Indiegogo environments," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1801-1821, April.
    9. Kraft, Priscilla S. & Günther, Christina & Kammerlander, Nadine H. & Lampe, Jan, 2022. "Overconfidence and entrepreneurship: A meta-analysis of different types of overconfidence in the entrepreneurial process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4).
    10. Myung Ja Kim & C. Michael Hall & Heejeong Han, 2021. "Behavioral Influences on Crowdfunding SDG Initiatives: The Importance of Personality and Subjective Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, March.
    11. Wu, Wenqing & Wang, Hongxin & Wang, Xinchun, 2022. "Entrepreneur narcissism and new venture performance: A learning perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 901-915.
    12. Junjuan Du, . "Impact of project information disclosure on backers' investment intensity in reward-based crowdfunding: Evidence from agri-food crowdfunding in China," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 0.
    13. Filippo Marchesani & Francesca Masciarelli, 2022. "Crowdfunding as Entrepreneurial Investment: The Role of Local Knowledge Spillover," Papers 2211.16984, arXiv.org.
    14. Janina Sundermeier & Tyge-F. Kummer, 2022. "Does personality still matter in e-commerce? How perceived hubris influences the assessment of founders’ trustworthiness using the example of reward-based crowdfunding," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(3), pages 1127-1144, September.
    15. Junjuan Du, 2023. "Impact of project information disclosure on backers' investment intensity in reward-based crowdfunding: Evidence from agri-food crowdfunding in China," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 69(11), pages 427-435.
    16. KURIHARA Koki & HONJO Yuji, 2022. "Determinants of Campaign Success: Empirical evidence from equity crowdfunding in Japan," Discussion papers 22057, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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