How crowdfunders are influenced by entrepreneurial passion A dual information processing perspective

Abstract

We incorporate Entrepreneurial Passion into a dual theory of information processing and theorize that passion can be used as information in analytical thinking, and as an heuristic, in intuitive thinking. This conceptual framework leads us to predict that passion is associated to more positive judgments, but also at identifying moderating factors that predict when passion is less likely to do so. We test the role of two factors in the context of crowdfunding. The correlational evidence is consistent with predictions that passion is less influential if displayed in combination with low preparedness, i.e. in conditions of incoherence/disfluency, and when the judgment is important for the decision maker. This conceptual framework reconciles some of the contradictory findings of prior evidence and improves the predictive power of the Entrepreneurial Passion theory. The results also suggest that affective cues have the power to influence decisions in contexts, such as crowdfunding, characterized by large numbers of non-professional investors.