The effects of brand prominence and narrative features on crowdfunding success for entrepreneurial aftermarket enterprises

This study examines how small, entrepreneurial enterprises can design crowdfunding projects for their aftermarket offerings. Drawing from signaling theory and the elaboration likelihood model, we investigate the direct and interactive effects of brand prominence (i.e., conspicuous display of a brand name in project titles and descriptions) and narrative features (i.e., language styles and narrative length) on funding success of crowdfunding projects by entrepreneurial aftermarket enterprises. Analysis of data from 343 crowdfunding projects shows the positive influence of brand prominence, language style, and narrative length on funding success. Findings also show that brand prominence increases the effects of language styles and narrative length on funding success. Based on these findings, we identify multiple theoretical contributions and directions for future research as well as practical recommendations for entrepreneurial aftermarket enterprises on designing crowdfunding projects.