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Dissertation
Understanding multimodal communication and platform endorsement in reward-based crowdfunding
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2025
DOI: 10.25820/etd.008140
Abstract
Reward-based crowdfunding has become a pivotal mechanism in entrepreneurial finance, enabling creators to raise funds directly from a broad base of backers in exchange for non-monetary rewards. This model not only democratizes access to capital but also facilitates early market validation and community engagement. Yet, despite its transformative potential, success on crowdfunding platforms remains highly uncertain, with many campaigns struggling to stand out in an increasingly saturated and competitive environment. This dissertation examines two critical, yet underexplored, factors that influence the performance of reward-based crowdfunding campaigns: multimodal communication and platform endorsement.The first study investigates how the integration of textual and visual elements, referred to as multimodal communication, affects funding outcomes. Drawing on multimodality theory and analyzing over 17,000 Kickstarter campaigns using machine learning-based content classification, the study introduces a structured framework encompassing three key dimensions: semantic coherence, information density, and spatial contiguity. Findings reveal that greater semantic coherence between text and images significantly improves funding performance. However, both information density and spatial contiguity follow inverted U-shaped relationships with success, indicating that either excessive or insufficient integration can undermine campaign effectiveness. Furthermore, linguistic cognitive complexity moderates these relationships: as textual content becomes more cognitively demanding, the optimal balance shifts, requiring reduced text-image density but closer spatial proximity, highlighting the need for strategic multimodal design tailored to content complexity.
The second study explores the role of human-curated platform endorsements, with a focus on Kickstarter’s “Project We Love” badge. Utilizing a dataset of over 4,000 campaigns, this study identifies the features associated with receiving an endorsement and assesses its impact on campaign performance through propensity score matching and two-way fixed effects models. Results show that campaigns with higher funding goals and a greater number of reward tiers are more likely to be endorsed. Visually rich campaigns, those with more images and GIFs but lower visual complexity, also see higher endorsement rates. In terms of messaging, campaigns that are logically organized, positively framed, and include environmental commitments are more likely to receive endorsement. Frequent claims of innovativeness are negatively associated with endorsement, indicating potential curator skepticism toward overt self-promotion. Creator experience matters as well: campaigns led by creators with past success, prior backings, and larger teams are favored, though first-time creators also benefit, reflecting a curatorial interest in supporting new entrants. Contextual factors such as differentiation from recent campaigns in the same subcategory and higher subcategory activity levels increase endorsement likelihood, while longer campaign durations and greater competition from similar campaigns reduce it. The benefits of endorsement are both substantial and time sensitive. The badge triggers a sharp increase in daily pledges and backer engagement, with the most pronounced effects occurring in the days immediately following its assignment.
These two studies collectively advance a deeper understanding of the communicative and institutional dynamics that shape success in reward-based crowdfunding. The first study highlights the importance of strategic multimodal integration in campaign presentations, demonstrating how text and images must be cohesively aligned and optimally balanced to enhance persuasive impact. The second study reveals how platform-curated endorsements function as powerful institutional signals, selectively amplifying campaigns that exhibit desirable communicative, structural, and contextual features. By integrating insights from communication theory and platform curation, this dissertation contributes to the literature on digital entrepreneurship and crowdfunding, while offering actionable implications for creators seeking funding, platforms curating content, and scholars exploring the mechanisms that drive success in online funding environments.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Understanding multimodal communication and platform endorsement in reward-based crowdfunding
- Creators
- Ling Tong
- Contributors
- Weiguo Fan (Advisor)Natasha Z. Foutz (Committee Member)William N. Street (Committee Member)Kang Zhao (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Business Administration
- Date degree season
- Summer 2025
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.008140
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xii, 99 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2025 Ling Tong
- Language
- English
- Date submitted
- 07/28/2025
- Description illustrations
- illustrations (some color)
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 91-99).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
Crowdfunding has created new opportunities for entrepreneurs, artists, and innovators to bring their ideas to life. Through platforms like Kickstarter, people can share their projects online and raise money from everyday supporters in exchange for rewards like early access to products or exclusive perks. But with thousands of campaigns competing for attention, what helps some projects stand out and succeed? This dissertation explores two key factors that influence crowdfunding success: how a project is presented and whether it receives a platform endorsement. The first study investigates how the combination of text and visuals affects campaign outcomes. Analyzing over 17,000 Kickstarter projects, the research finds that when words and images are clearly connected in meaning, campaigns tend to perform better. It also shows that both the amount of text per image and the spatial placement of text and visuals matter: too much or too little of either can reduce effectiveness. For more complex campaigns, success improves when there are fewer sentences per image and when text and visuals appear closer together. The second study examines the role of human-curated platform endorsements in driving campaign performance, using Kickstarter s Project We Love badge as the empirical context. Based on data from over 4,000 projects, the study identifies traits linked to receiving an endorsement, such as higher funding goals, more reward options, clear and positive messaging, strong visuals, and credible or experienced creators. Frequent innovation claims and long campaign durations, on the other hand, reduce the chances of being endorsed. The endorsement provides a short boost in pledges and engagement, with the most noticeable increase occurring soon after the badge is awarded. Together, these studies offer practical insights for creators looking to improve their campaigns and for platforms aiming to promote promising ideas.
- Academic Unit
- Tippie College of Business
- Record Identifier
- 9984948539202771
Metrics
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