Doing Good to Look Good? Displayed Narcissism and Moral Values in Raising Capital for Social Venture

Abstract

We adopt an identity perspective to examine how entrepreneurs’ displayed moral values and narcissism shape the likelihood of pursuing a social venture and the ability to acquire crowdfunded capital. We contend that narcissism complements the influence of moral values on the likelihood of pursuing a social venture. Backers will respond differently to displays of narcissism and moral values when funding social ventures, however. Analysis of 1,000 crowdfunding campaigns indicates a complementary influence of displayed moral values and narcissism on the likelihood of social venture engagement. Displayed moral values elevate crowdfunding performance among social ventures compared to commercial ventures, while displayed narcissism harms performance.