Get Your Project Funded: Using Biometric Data to Understand What Makes People Trust and Support Crowdfunding Campaigns

Abstract: Creating a good crowdfunding campaign is difficult. By understanding why people contribute to crowdfunding campaigns we can make campaigns better and raise more money. Crowdfunding websites allow entrepreneurs to make a pitch, which is watched by potential funders. This article describes a pilot of an experiment that measures how people react to both successful and unsuccessful pitches. In particular we are interested in emotional reactions and trust reactions. Unexpectedly, failed campaigns were watched more and were judged to have higher integrity. Perceived ability seemed to be the best predictor of a campaign’s success. We hope to explore this subject in more depth with further experiments.