The More Enthusiastic, the Better? Unveiling a Negative Pathway From Entrepreneurs’ Displayed Enthusiasm to Funders’ Funding Intentions
研究发现，创业者展示热情可能被资助者视为印象管理手段，反而降低资助意愿，尤其当创业者被认为专业能力不足时。
Displaying enthusiasm (an emotional manifestation of passion) is a common practice for entrepreneurs to attract crowdfunding. However, we propose that funders may attribute an entrepreneur’s displayed enthusiasm to impression management motives, which can in turn reduce their funding intentions. Moreover, this negative pathway is more likely to occur when the entrepreneur is perceived to have lower domain expertise. We found consistent support for these hypotheses from a survey and an experiment. Our findings suggest that displaying enthusiasm may not always be effective for entrepreneurs because there are both positive and negative pathways underlying the influence of displayed enthusiasm on funders.