Celebrity Investors and the Success of Crowdfunding Campaigns

Abstract Using the source-credibility model and the match-up hypothesis, this study examines the effectiveness of celebrities’ investment information on crowdfunding campaigns. Findings from four studies indicate that when celebrities invest in projects meant for crowdfunding and when such projects are congruent with their image, investors’ intentions to invest in the projects increase. Furthermore, investors value celebrities’ past project success information more than the product-celebrity image congruent information such that if a celebrity has a previous successful investment even in an incongruent product category, investors’ intentions to invest in the project is still higher than a failed project in a product congruent category.