Investigating the determinants of medical crowdfunding performance: a signaling theory perspective
ISSN: 1066-2243
Article publication date: 26 May 2022
Issue publication date: 17 May 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the determinants of medical crowdfunding performance. Drawing on signaling theory, the authors investigate how funding-related signals (funding goal and duration), story-related signals (text length, text sentiment, and use of first-person pronouns), and donor-related signals (donor identity disclosure) affect medical crowdfunding performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study analyzed the data of 754 medical crowdfunding projects collected from the Qingsongchou platform in China to test the proposed model.
Findings
The empirical findings reveal that both funding goal and funding duration exhibit a U-shaped relationship with crowdfunding performance. Additionally, the authors find evidence that story text length and donor identity disclosure are positively related to crowdfunding performance, whereas the use of first-person pronouns is negatively related to crowdfunding performance.
Originality/value
This study extends the understanding of the determinants of medical crowdfunding performance through the signaling theory. Specifically, this study provides new insights into the roles of funding goal and funding duration in predicting medical crowdfunding performance and identifies several new predictors of crowdfunding performance, including the use of first-person pronouns in project story text and donor identity disclosure.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the grants from the National Social Science Foundation of China (21BGL245) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71701180).
Citation
Chen, Y., Zhou, S., Jin, W. and Chen, S. (2023), "Investigating the determinants of medical crowdfunding performance: a signaling theory perspective", Internet Research, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 1134-1156. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-09-2021-0652
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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