IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v93y2024ics1057521924000747.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The power of a name: Exploring the relationship between ICO name fluency and investor decision making

Author

Listed:
  • Xia, Feilian
  • Thewissen, James
  • Shrestha, Prabal
  • Yan, Shuo

Abstract

This study examines the impact of the fluency of Initial Coin Offering (ICO) project names on fundraising and post-ICO performance. Analyzing 8,878 ICOs from July 2012 to July 2021, we find a robust and positive correlation between name fluency (e.g., projects with succinct and English-like names) and fundraising success. Moreover, we find that this relationship is heightened for ICOs with popular names and that it influences an ICO’s performance over time by increasing listing likelihood, shortening the listing time, and prolonging survival. Overall, the results of this paper align with psychological insights suggesting that fluency in stimuli enhances familiarity and memorability, which therefore, enables investors to make heuristic-based decision amidst the informationally constrained ICO landscape.

Suggested Citation

  • Xia, Feilian & Thewissen, James & Shrestha, Prabal & Yan, Shuo, 2024. "The power of a name: Exploring the relationship between ICO name fluency and investor decision making," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:93:y:2024:i:c:s1057521924000747
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103142
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521924000747
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103142?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benedetti, Hugo & Nikbakht, Ehsan, 2021. "Returns and network growth of digital tokens after cross-listings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Momtaz, Paul P., 2021. "Entrepreneurial Finance and Moral Hazard: Evidence from Token Offerings," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    3. Hirshleifer, David & Levi, Yaron & Lourie, Ben & Teoh, Siew Hong, 2019. "Decision fatigue and heuristic analyst forecasts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 83-98.
    4. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    5. Fisch, Christian & Masiak, Christian & Vismara, Silvio & Block, Joern, 2021. "Motives and profiles of ICO investors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 564-576.
    6. Paul P Momtaz, 2020. "Initial Coin Offerings," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-30, May.
    7. Sabrina T Howell & Marina Niessner & David Yermack & Jiang Wei, 2020. "Initial Coin Offerings: Financing Growth with Cryptocurrency Token Sales," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(9), pages 3925-3974.
    8. Chien-Sheng Richard Chan & Haemin Dennis Park & Pankaj Patel, 2018. "The effect of company name fluency on venture investment decisions and IPO underpricing," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 1-26, January.
    9. Peter Roosenboom & Tom van der Kolk & Abe de Jong, 2020. "What determines success in initial coin offerings?," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 161-183, June.
    10. Thomas Bourveau & Emmanuel T. De George & Atif Ellahie & Daniele Macciocchi, 2022. "The Role of Disclosure and Information Intermediaries in an Unregulated Capital Market: Evidence from Initial Coin Offerings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 129-167, March.
    11. Florysiak, David & Schandlbauer, Alexander, 2022. "Experts or charlatans? ICO analysts and white paper informativeness," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    12. Pastwa, Anna M. & Shrestha, Prabal & Thewissen, James & Torsin, Wouter, 2021. "Unpacking the black box of ICO white papers: a topic modeling approach," LIDAM Discussion Papers LFIN 2021018, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    13. James Heckman & Salvador Navarro-Lozano, 2004. "Using Matching, Instrumental Variables, and Control Functions to Estimate Economic Choice Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 30-57, February.
    14. Durham, Greg & Santhanakrishnan, Mukunthan, 2016. "Ticker fluency, sentiment, and asset valuation," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 89-96.
    15. Jennifer Thewissen & James Thewissen & Wouter Torsin & Özgür Arslan-Ayaydin, 2023. "Linguistic errors and investment decisions: the case of ICO white papers," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(7), pages 826-868, May.
    16. Fisch, Christian & Momtaz, Paul P., 2020. "Institutional investors and post-ICO performance: an empirical analysis of investor returns in initial coin offerings (ICOs)," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    17. Akyildirim, Erdinc & Corbet, Shaen & Sensoy, Ahmet & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2020. "The impact of blockchain related name changes on corporate performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Thewissen, James & Shrestha, Prabal & Torsin, Wouter & Pastwa, Anna M., 2022. "Unpacking the black box of ICO white papers: A topic modeling approach," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    19. Paul P. Momtaz, 2021. "Initial coin offerings, asymmetric information, and loyal CEOs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 975-997, August.
    20. Adhami, Saman & Giudici, Giancarlo & Martinazzi, Stefano, 2018. "Why do businesses go crypto? An empirical analysis of initial coin offerings," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 64-75.
    21. Evgeny Lyandres & Berardino Palazzo & Daniel Rabetti, 2022. "Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Success and Post-ICO Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 8658-8679, December.
    22. Shrestha, Prabal & Arslan-Ayaydin, Özgür & Thewissen, James & Torsin, Wouter, 2021. "Institutions, regulations and initial coin offerings: An international perspective," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 102-120.
    23. Fisch, Christian, 2019. "Initial coin offerings (ICOs) to finance new ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 1-22.
    24. Michael J. Cooper & Orlin Dimitrov & P. Raghavendra Rau, 2001. "A Rose.com by Any Other Name," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2371-2388, December.
    25. Jennifer Itzkowitz & Jesse Itzkowitz & Scott Rothbort, 2016. "ABCs of Trading: Behavioral Biases affect Stock Turnover and Value," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(2), pages 663-692.
    26. Zhang, Shuyu & Aerts, Walter & Lu, Liping & Pan, Huifeng, 2019. "Readability of token whitepaper and ICO first-day return," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 58-61.
    27. Winifred Huang & Michele Meoli & Silvio Vismara, 2020. "The geography of initial coin offerings," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 77-102, June.
    28. Shuyu Zhang & Walter Aerts & Dunli Zhang & Zishan Chen, 2022. "Positive tone and initial coin offering," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2237-2266, June.
    29. Corbet, Shaen & Lucey, Brian & Urquhart, Andrew & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2019. "Cryptocurrencies as a financial asset: A systematic analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 182-199.
    30. Cahill, Daniel & Liu, Zhangxin (Frank), 2021. "Limitations of imitation: Lessons from another Bitcoin copycat," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    31. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2010. "The worldwide governance indicators : methodology and analytical issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5430, The World Bank.
    32. Mansouri, Sasan & Momtaz, Paul P., 2022. "Financing sustainable entrepreneurship: ESG measurement, valuation, and performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(6).
    33. Green, T. Clifton & Jame, Russell, 2013. "Company name fluency, investor recognition, and firm value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 813-834.
    34. Head, Alex & Smith, Gary & Wilson, Julia, 2009. "Would a stock by any other ticker smell as sweet?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 551-561, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Muneer M. Alshater & Mayank Joshipura & Rim El Khoury & Nohade Nasrallah, 2023. "Initial Coin Offerings: a Hybrid Empirical Review," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 891-908, October.
    2. Feilian Xia & James Thewissen & Winifred Huang & Shuo Yan, 2024. "Founder-CEO Extraversion and Sustainability Orientation in Initial Coin Offerings," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(4), pages 941-980, July.
    3. Bongini, Paola & Osborne, Francesco & Pedrazzoli, Alessia & Rossolini, Monica, 2022. "A topic modelling analysis of white papers in security token offerings: Which topic matters for funding?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    4. Shih‐Chu Chou & Zhe‐An Li & Tawei Wang & Ju‐Chun Yen, 2023. "How the quality of initial coin offering white papers influences fundraising: Using security token offerings white papers as a benchmark," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 3-18, January.
    5. Carolina Camassa, 2023. "Legal NLP Meets MiCAR: Advancing the Analysis of Crypto White Papers," Papers 2310.10333, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.
    6. Pastwa, Anna M. & Shrestha, Prabal & Thewissen, James & Torsin, Wouter, 2021. "Unpacking the black box of ICO white papers: a topic modeling approach," LIDAM Discussion Papers LFIN 2021018, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    7. Cahill, Daniel & Liu, Zhangxin (Frank), 2021. "Limitations of imitation: Lessons from another Bitcoin copycat," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Kolbe, Maura & Mansouri, Sasan & Momtaz, Paul P., 2022. "Why do video pitches matter in crowdfunding?," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    9. Chitsazan, Hasti & Bagheri, Afsaneh & Tajeddin, Mahdi, 2022. "Initial coin offerings (ICOs) success: Conceptualization, theories and systematic analysis of empirical studies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    10. Thewissen, James & Shrestha, Prabal & Torsin, Wouter & Pastwa, Anna M., 2022. "Unpacking the black box of ICO white papers: A topic modeling approach," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Sapkota, Niranjan & Grobys, Klaus, 2023. "Fear sells: On the sentiment deceptions and fundraising success of initial coin offerings," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Luisa Faust & Maura Kolbe & Sasan Mansouri & Paul P. Momtaz, 2022. "The Crowdfunding of Altruism," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-29, March.
    13. Alessandro Bitetto & Paola Cerchiello, 2024. "Initial Coin Offerings: can ESG mitigate Underpricing?," DEM Working Papers Series 221, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    14. Meoli, Michele & Vismara, Silvio, 2022. "Machine-learning forecasting of successful ICOs," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    15. de Andrés, Pablo & Arroyo, David & Correia, Ricardo & Rezola, Alvaro, 2022. "Challenges of the market for initial coin offerings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Alexander Guzmán & Cristian Pinto-Gutiérrez & María-Andrea Trujillo, 2020. "Attention to Global Warming and the Success of Environmental Initial Coin Offerings: Empirical Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-16, November.
    17. Mansouri, Sasan & Momtaz, Paul P., 2022. "Financing sustainable entrepreneurship: ESG measurement, valuation, and performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(6).
    18. Kreppmeier, Julia & Laschinger, Ralf & Steininger, Bertram I. & Dorfleitner, Gregor, 2023. "Real estate security token offerings and the secondary market: Driven by crypto hype or fundamentals?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    19. Patel, Ritesh & Migliavacca, Milena & Oriani, Marco E., 2022. "Blockchain in banking and finance: A bibliometric review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    20. Niclas Dombrowski & Wolfgang Drobetz & Lars Hornuf & Paul P. Momtaz, 2023. "The Financial and Non-Financial Performance of Token-Based Crowdfunding: Certification Arbitrage, Investor Choice, and the Optimal Timing of ICOs," CESifo Working Paper Series 10393, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Initial coin offering; Name; Name fluency; Heuristics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:93:y:2024:i:c:s1057521924000747. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620166 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.