Standing out in crowdfunded microfinance: A topic modeling approach examining campaign distinctiveness and prosocial performance

Amanda Williamson, Jeremy C. Short and Marcus T. Wolfe

Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 2021, vol. 16, issue C

Abstract: We outline the promise of topic modeling as a tool to build knowledge in social entrepreneurship surrounding the role gender plays in prosocial crowdfunding. By leveraging a sample of 340,956 prosocial microfinance campaigns drawn from Kiva, we examine how distinctiveness from the prototypical narrative in men's and women's campaigns relates to crowdfunding performance. We find that distinctiveness in men's campaigns is associated with faster funding. Conversely, when women's campaigns are distinctive from other women, funding times vary depending on their sector. Our findings suggest that in prosocial microlending, deviating from the normal narrative of one's gender is advantageous for campaigns led by men, but that among women, it can often hinder prosocial microlending efforts.

Keywords: Topic modeling; Text analysis; CATA; Crowdfunding; Kiva; Gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:16:y:2021:i:c:s2352673421000391

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2021.e00261

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