Good News from Mass Media Induces More Investments in the Equity Crowdfunding Market

ABSTRACT This study verifies the association between the text sentiment of news items and the value of capital investments in the equity crowdfunding market. It also analyzes the influence of geographic attributes on the investments made. Based on data for 736 investments made in different ventures in the largest equity crowdfunding platform in one of the main emerging markets, this study’s results indicate that the attributes of ventures can affect the amount of capital invested in them. In addition, published mass media news items that have a greater quantity of positive words can stimulate larger investments in these ventures. On the other hand, the geographic distance between the entrepreneur and the investor can negatively affect the value of these investments. These results are relevant since they can contribute to the definition of fundraising strategies on the part of entrepreneurs and platform managers.

摘要 本研究验证了新闻文本情感与股权众筹市场资本投资价值之间的关联，并分析了地理属性对投资行为的影响。研究以某主要新兴市场头部股权众筹平台上736笔投向不同创业项目的投资数据为样本，结果表明，创业项目的特征会对其获得的投资额度产生影响。此外，包含更多积极词汇的公开媒体新闻，能够推动对该类创业项目的更大规模投资。另一方面，创业者与投资者之间的地理距离会对投资额度产生负向影响。本研究结果具备实践参考价值，可为创业者及平台管理者制定募资策略提供有益借鉴。