Concrete Achievements and Coherent Plans: Storytelling of Roadmaps in Crypto Crowdfunding
研究了加密众筹项目路线图中，用具体语言描述已实现里程碑、用连贯语言描述计划里程碑，能显著提升筹款成功率，为创业项目提供沟通策略指导。
Crypto crowdfunding has become a key financing channel for blockchain start-ups, yet ineffective project-investor communication contributes to fundraising failures. This study investigates how linguistic framing in project roadmaps, specifically, the presentation of achieved versus planned milestones, influences fundraising success. Drawing on construal level theory, we argue that achieved milestones benefit from concrete language, while planned milestones are more effective when conveyed through coherent language. We analyzed 1,507 crypto crowdfunding campaigns and measured milestone concreteness and coherence using established computational linguistics techniques and large language models. Regression results show that fundraising success is positively associated with the concreteness of achieved milestones and the coherence of planned milestones. These findings suggest that aligning linguistic style with information hypotheticality (i.e., achieved vs. planned) can significantly enhance investor confidence, offering actionable guidance for start-up fundraising campaigns