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Dynamics of Investor Communication in Equity Crowdfunding

Author

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  • Gregor Dorfleitner
  • Lars Hornuf
  • Martina Weber

Abstract

In crowdfunding, start-ups can voluntarily communicate with their investors by posting updates. We investigate whether start-ups strategically use updates, which were previously shown to increase investments. To this end, we use hand-collected data of 751 updates and 39,036 investment decisions from the two major German equity crowdfunding portals Seedmatch and Companisto. We find evidence for strategic communication behavior of startups during an equity crowdfunding campaign. During the funding period, start-ups post updates with linguistic devices that enhance the group identity and the group cohesion. Furthermore, the probability of an update during the funding period increases with a strong competition of other contemporary crowdfunding campaigns.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregor Dorfleitner & Lars Hornuf & Martina Weber, 2017. "Dynamics of Investor Communication in Equity Crowdfunding," Research Papers in Economics 2017-04, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:trr:wpaper:201704
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    Cited by:

    1. Mónika Kuti & Zsolt Bedõ & Dorottya Geiszl, 2017. "Equity-based Crowdfunding," Financial and Economic Review, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary), vol. 16(4), pages 187-200.
    2. Jörn Block & Lars Hornuf & Alexandra Moritz, 2018. "Which updates during an equity crowdfunding campaign increase crowd participation?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 3-27, January.
    3. Kazem Mochkabadi & Christine K. Volkmann, 2020. "Equity crowdfunding: a systematic review of the literature," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 75-118, January.
    4. Kędzierska-Szczepaniak Angelika, 2018. "The Initiatives Supported by Reward-Based Crowdfunding in Poland," Management Sciences. Nauki o Zarządzaniu, Sciendo, vol. 23(4), pages 18-27, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crowdfunding; Investor Communication; Entrepreneurial Finance; Sentiment Analysis; Linguistic Devices;
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