Does digitalization sufficiently empower female entrepreneurs? Evidence from their online gender identities and crowdfunding performance

Yalin Wang (), Yaokuang Li (), Juan Wu (), Li Ling () and Dan Long ()
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Yalin Wang: Hefei University of Technology
Yaokuang Li: Hefei University of Technology
Juan Wu: Anhui Medical University
Li Ling: Anhui Medical University
Dan Long: Hefei University of Technology

Small Business Economics, 2023, vol. 61, issue 1, No 14, 325-348

Abstract: Abstract Drawing upon cyberfeminist theory with a socially constructed view of gender, this paper aims to objectively reveal the extent of digitalization in female entrepreneurs’ empowerment by examining the impacts of their online gender identities on crowdfunding performance. Leveraging a female-led sample of 3125 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns, we develop a measure of gender identity online using natural language processing analytic techniques to mine linguistic narratives, and empirically investigate our questions. The results reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between the online displays of masculinity and crowdfunding performance for female entrepreneurs and no significant effect of femininity on crowdfunding performance. Regarding hybrid masculinity and femininity, we find those female entrepreneurs who display a masculine identity (i.e., high on masculinity and low on femininity) online perform better in crowdfunding. The results clearly demonstrate that the potential of crowdfunding for female entrepreneurs’ empowerment is overestimated in that embracing masculinity is reproduced online in addressing women’s financial constraints, thus providing objective and reliable evidence for informing the debate on the extent of digitalization in female entrepreneurs’ empowerment.

Keywords: Female entrepreneurship; Crowdfunding; Digital; Cyberfeminism; Gender identity; Natural language processing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B54 J16 L26 O36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-022-00690-x

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