Financial Self-Efficacy, Visual Attention, and Performance in Equity Crowdfunding: An Eye-Tracking Experiment

The aim of this article was to investigate how the psychological trait of financial self-efficacy (FSE) influences visual attention mechanisms toward information sources displayed in equity crowdfunding (EC) campaigns, as well as perceptions of attractiveness. Running ordinary least squares regressions on data collected by means of the online eye tracking from a sample of 147 U.S. participants, we observe that soft information of EC campaigns attracts more attention than hard information but that the negative relationship of FSE on visual attention is stronger for the latter than the former. The analysis also sheds light on investor behavior, revealing a negative relationship between FSE and subjects' perception of the attractiveness of the campaigns. The results contribute to the neuroeconomics and financial decision-making literature by revealing the visual information processing strategies involved in evaluating EC campaigns and highlighting the significant role of FSE in influencing investors' attention and behavior. Moreover, the findings contribute to the debate between social control theory and perceptual control theory, providing support for the latter.