Designing Persuasive Crowdfunding Videos
(A2022-107605)

AUTHORS

Hannah Chang, Singapore Management University; Anirban Mukherjee, Cornell University; Amitava Chattopadhyay, INSEAD

ABSTRACT

Voiceover narration is a production technique commonly used in reward-based crowdfunding videos. We posit that in these videos, hearing more narrator voices describing the crowdfunding product can systematically influence consumers’ attention and processing of the message, thereby facilitating persuasion. We employed a multi-method approach, including experimentation, natural language processing, text mining, and machine learning. Results across four studies—including real-world datasets and controlled experiments—show that the effect (1) has consequential, economic implications in a real-world marketplace, (2) is more pronounced when the message is easier to comprehend, and (3) is more pronounced when consumers have the capacity to process the narrated message. Substantive and theoretical implications are discussed.