IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v200y2024ics0040162523007953.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social media opinion leaders and information diffusion of crowdfunding projects: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Zhao, Liang
  • Sun, Zhe
  • Chen, Si
  • Gugnani, Ritika
  • Sahore, Nidhi

Abstract

Opinion leaders play essential roles in online social media and are the key to analyzing the process of information diffusion. While the crowdfunding market has exhibited rapid growth, empirical studies about social media opinion leaders in the crowdfunding context remain nascent. Specifically, efforts to identify opinion leaders in social media and to understand the mechanisms by which such opinion leaders influence others in the crowdfunding context are limited. Based on the information diffusion theory, this study aims to address these research gaps by applying a multiple-case research design combined with dynamic network analysis (DNA). By analyzing user-generated content related to selected case projects from Weibo, the most popular micro-blogging site in China, the study identifies five types of social media opinion leaders. In addition, it investigates the various roles of opinion leaders in the information diffusion process on social media. Theoretically, this study broadens the boundaries of the “two-step flow” model and the diffusion of innovations theory by applying them to the crowdfunding context. The findings of this study provide valuable insights on crowdfunding project promotion for both crowdfunding platform operators and project initiators.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao, Liang & Sun, Zhe & Chen, Si & Gugnani, Ritika & Sahore, Nidhi, 2024. "Social media opinion leaders and information diffusion of crowdfunding projects: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:200:y:2024:i:c:s0040162523007953
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.123110
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162523007953
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.123110?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. Liang Zhao & Tsvi Vinig, 2017. "Hedonic value and crowdfunding project performance: a propensity score matching-based analysis," Review of Behavioral Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(2), pages 169-186, July.
    2. Allison, Thomas H. & Davis, Blakley C. & Webb, Justin W. & Short, Jeremy C., 2017. "Persuasion in crowdfunding: An elaboration likelihood model of crowdfunding performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 707-725.
    3. Denis Frydrych & Adam J. Bock & Tony Kinder & Benjamin Koeck, 2014. "Exploring entrepreneurial legitimacy in reward-based crowdfunding," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 247-269, July.
    4. Massimo G. Colombo & Chiara Franzoni & Cristina Rossi–Lamastra, 2015. "Internal Social Capital and the Attraction of Early Contributions in Crowdfunding," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(1), pages 75-100, January.
    5. Shneor, Rotem & Munim, Ziaul Haque, 2019. "Reward crowdfunding contribution as planned behaviour: An extended framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 56-70.
    6. Aurélien Petit & Peter Wirtz, 2022. "Experts in the crowd and their influence on herding in reward-based crowdfunding of cultural projects," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 419-449, January.
    7. Lin, Tse-Chun & Pursiainen, Vesa, 2022. "Regional social capital and moral hazard in crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4).
    8. Alexandra Moritz & Joern Block & Eva Lutz, 2015. "Investor communication in equity-based crowdfunding: a qualitative-empirical study," Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(3), pages 309-342, August.
    9. Kim, Kun & Park, Oun-joung & Yun, Seunghyun & Yun, Haejung, 2017. "What makes tourists feel negatively about tourism destinations? Application of hybrid text mining methodology to smart destination management," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 362-369.
    10. Ho-Dac, Nga N., 2020. "The value of online user generated content in product development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 136-146.
    11. Matthew Josefy & Thomas J. Dean & Lumina S. Albert & Markus A. Fitza, 2017. "The Role of Community in Crowdfunding Success: Evidence on Cultural Attributes in Funding Campaigns to “Save the Local Theaterâ€," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(2), pages 161-182, March.
    12. David Godes & Dina Mayzlin, 2009. "Firm-Created Word-of-Mouth Communication: Evidence from a Field Test," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 721-739, 07-08.
    13. Jeremy C. Short & David J. Ketchen Jr. & Aaron F. McKenny & Thomas H. Allison & R. Duane Ireland, 2017. "Research on Crowdfunding: Reviewing the (Very Recent) past and Celebrating the Present," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(2), pages 149-160, March.
    14. Ajay Agrawal & Christian Catalini & Avi Goldfarb, 2015. "Crowdfunding: Geography, Social Networks, and the Timing of Investment Decisions," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 253-274, June.
    15. Parhankangas, Annaleena & Renko, Maija, 2017. "Linguistic style and crowdfunding success among social and commercial entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 215-236.
    16. Pescher, Christian & Spann, Martin, 2014. "Relevance of actors in bridging positions for product-related information diffusion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1630-1637.
    17. McCracken, Grant, 1989. "Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement Process," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(3), pages 310-321, December.
    18. Danielle Logue & Matthew Grimes, 2022. "Platforms for the people: Enabling civic crowdfunding through the cultivation of institutional infrastructure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 663-693, March.
    19. Flynn, Leisa Reinecke & Goldsmith, Ronald E. & Eastman, Jacqueline K., 1994. "The King and Summers opinion leadership scale: Revision and refinement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 55-64, September.
    20. Prenkert, Frans & Hasche, Nina & Linton, Gabriel, 2019. "Towards a systematic analytical framework of resource interfaces," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 139-149.
    21. Mollick, Ethan, 2014. "The dynamics of crowdfunding: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-16.
    22. Tsang, Alex S.L. & Zhou, Nan, 2005. "Newsgroup participants as opinion leaders and seekers in online and offline communication environments," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(9), pages 1186-1193, September.
    23. Ajay Agrawal & Christian Catalini & Avi Goldfarb, 2014. "Some Simple Economics of Crowdfunding," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 63-97.
    24. Yuho Chung & Yiwei Li & Jianmin Jia, 2021. "Exploring embeddedness, centrality, and social influence on backer behavior: the role of backer networks in crowdfunding," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 925-946, September.
    25. Laurell, Christofer & Sandström, Christian & Suseno, Yuliani, 2019. "Assessing the interplay between crowdfunding and sustainability in social media," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 117-127.
    26. Rotem Shneor & Liang Zhao & Bjørn-Tore Flåten, 2020. "Introduction: From Fundamentals to Advances in Crowdfunding Research and Practice," Springer Books, in: Rotem Shneor & Liang Zhao & Bjørn-Tore Flåten (ed.), Advances in Crowdfunding, edition 1, chapter 1, pages 1-18, Springer.
    27. Ren, Jie & Raghupathi, Viju & Raghupathi, Wullianallur, 2021. "Exploring the Factors that Determine the Success of Litigation Crowdfunding: Implications for Social Justice," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    28. Vitaly Skirnevskiy & David Bendig & Malte Brettel, 2017. "The Influence of Internal Social Capital on Serial Creators’ Success in Crowdfunding," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(2), pages 209-236, March.
    29. Thomas W. Valente & Rebecca L. Davis, 1999. "Accelerating the Diffusion of Innovations Using Opinion Leaders," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 566(1), pages 55-67, November.
    30. Zhao, Liang & Shneor, Rotem & Sun, Zhe, 2022. "Skin in the game: Self-funding and reward crowdfunding success," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 89-100.
    31. Castillo, Marco & Petrie, Ragan & Wardell, Clarence, 2014. "Fundraising through online social networks: A field experiment on peer-to-peer solicitation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 29-35.
    32. Stanko, Michael A. & Henard, David H., 2017. "Toward a better understanding of crowdfunding, openness and the consequences for innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 784-798.
    33. Anglin, Aaron H. & Pidduck, Robert J., 2022. "Choose your words carefully: Harnessing the language of crowdfunding for success," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 43-58.
    34. Shuangfa Huang & David Pickernell & Martina Battisti & Thang Nguyen, 2022. "Signalling entrepreneurs’ credibility and project quality for crowdfunding success: cases from the Kickstarter and Indiegogo environments," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1801-1821, April.
    35. Leal, Gabriela Pasinato Alves & Hor-Meyll, Luis Fernando & de Paula Pessôa, Luís Alexandre Grubits, 2014. "Influence of virtual communities in purchasing decisions: The participants' perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 882-890.
    36. Mowen, John C. & Park, Sojin & Zablah, Alex, 2007. "Toward a theory of motivation and personality with application to word-of-mouth communications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 590-596, June.
    37. Shneor, Rotem & Zhao, Liang & Fabian Michael Goedecke, Jann, 2023. "On relationship types, their strength, and reward crowdfunding backer behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    38. Cumming, Douglas & Meoli, Michele & Vismara, Silvio, 2019. "Investors’ choices between cash and voting rights: Evidence from dual-class equity crowdfunding," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    39. Christopher Courtney & Supradeep Dutta & Yong Li, 2017. "Resolving Information Asymmetry: Signaling, Endorsement, and Crowdfunding Success," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(2), pages 265-290, March.
    40. Ariely, Dan, 2000. "Controlling the Information Flow: Effects on Consumers' Decision Making and Preferences," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(2), pages 233-248, September.
    41. Ajay K. Agrawal & Christian Catalini & Avi Goldfarb, 2011. "The Geography of Crowdfunding," NBER Working Papers 16820, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    42. Liang Zhao & Yuanqing Li, 2020. "Crowdfunding in China: Turmoil of Global Leadership," Springer Books, in: Rotem Shneor & Liang Zhao & Bjørn-Tore Flåten (ed.), Advances in Crowdfunding, edition 1, chapter 12, pages 273-296, Springer.
    43. Liang Zhao & Sunghan Ryu, 2020. "Reward-Based Crowdfunding Research and Practice," Springer Books, in: Rotem Shneor & Liang Zhao & Bjørn-Tore Flåten (ed.), Advances in Crowdfunding, edition 1, chapter 6, pages 119-143, Springer.
    44. Junge, Louise Bech & Laursen, Iben Cleveland & Nielsen, Kristian Roed, 2022. "Choosing crowdfunding: Why do entrepreneurs choose to engage in crowdfunding?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    45. Sewaid, Ahmed & Garcia-Cestona, Miguel & Silaghi, Florina, 2021. "Resolving information asymmetries in financing new product development: The case of reward-based crowdfunding," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(10).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pang, Hua & Ruan, Yang & Zhang, Kaige, 2024. "Deciphering technological contributions of visibility and interactivity to website atmospheric and customer stickiness in AI-driven websites: The pivotal function of online flow state," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

    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. Felipe, Israel José dos Santos & Mendes-Da-Silva, Wesley & Leal, Cristiana Cerqueira & Braun Santos, Danilo, 2022. "Reward crowdfunding campaigns: Time-to-success analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 214-228.
    2. Tajvarpour, Mohammad Hossein & Pujari, Devashish, 2022. "The influence of narrative description on the success of crowdfunding campaigns: The moderating role of quality signals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 123-138.
    3. Mahmood, Ammara & Luffarelli, Jonathan & Mukesh, Mudra, 2019. "What's in a logo? The impact of complex visual cues in equity crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 41-62.
    4. Sewaid, Ahmed & Parker, Simon C. & Kaakeh, Abdulkader, 2021. "Explaining serial crowdfunders' dynamic fundraising performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4).
    5. Lars Hornuf & Johannes Voshaar, 2024. "What Is an Effective Signal in Crowdfunding? Evidence from Expert Researchers and a Meta-Study," CESifo Working Paper Series 11501, CESifo.
    6. Cai, Wanxiang & Polzin, Friedemann & Stam, Erik, 2021. "Crowdfunding and social capital: A systematic review using a dynamic perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    7. Zhao, Liang & Shneor, Rotem & Sun, Zhe, 2022. "Skin in the game: Self-funding and reward crowdfunding success," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 89-100.
    8. Boudreau, Kevin J. & Jeppesen, Lars Bo & Reichstein, Toke & Rullani, Francesco, 2021. "Crowdfunding as Donations to Entrepreneurial Firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    9. Chan, C.S. Richard & Parhankangas, Annaleena & Sahaym, Arvin & Oo, Pyayt, 2020. "Bellwether and the herd? Unpacking the u-shaped relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions in reward-based crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(2).
    10. Maurer, Joshua D. & Creek, Steven A. & Allison, Thomas H. & Bendickson, Joshua S. & Sahaym, Arvin, 2023. "Affiliation rhetoric and digital orientation in crowdfunding appeals," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    11. Swati Oberoi & Rohit Joshi & Atul Mehta & Smita Srivastava & Vishal K. Gupta, 2024. "Crowdfunding Research: Critical Analysis and Constructive Agenda for Future Inquiry," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 33(3), pages 651-699, August.
    12. Rose, Stefan & Wentzel, Daniel & Hopp, Christian & Kaminski, Jermain, 2020. "Launching for Success: The Effects of Psychological Distance and Mental Simulation on Funding Decisions and Crowdfunding Performance," SocArXiv fqbwk, Center for Open Science.
    13. Chan, Ho Fai & Moy, Naomi & Schaffner, Markus & Torgler, Benno, 2021. "The effects of money saliency and sustainability orientation on reward based crowdfunding success," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 443-455.
    14. Megan Yuan Li & Charson Cancan Dong & Shige Makino, 2023. "Does a Past Category’s Success Influence Existing Entrepreneurial Fundraising?: A Legitimacy Spillover Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2263-2292, November.
    15. Shneor, Rotem & Zhao, Liang & Fabian Michael Goedecke, Jann, 2023. "On relationship types, their strength, and reward crowdfunding backer behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    16. Calic, Goran & Shevchenko, Anton, 2020. "How signal intensity of behavioral orientations affects crowdfunding performance: The role of entrepreneurial orientation in crowdfunding business ventures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 204-220.
    17. Xiaobei Liang & Xiaojuan Hu & Jiang Jiang, 2020. "Research on the Effects of Information Description on Crowdfunding Success within a Sustainable Economy—The Perspective of Information Communication," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-36, January.
    18. Anglin, Aaron H. & Short, Jeremy C. & Drover, Will & Stevenson, Regan M. & McKenny, Aaron F. & Allison, Thomas H., 2018. "The power of positivity? The influence of positive psychological capital language on crowdfunding performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 470-492.
    19. Francisca Jiménez-Jiménez & Maria Virtudes Alba-Fernández & Cristina Martínez-Gómez, 2021. "Attracting the Right Crowd under Asymmetric Information: A Game Theory Application to Rewards-Based Crowdfunding," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(21), pages 1-23, October.
    20. Xiang Yuan & Luyao Wang & Xicheng Yin & Hongwei Wang, 2021. "How text sentiment moderates the impact of motivational cues on crowdfunding campaigns," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, December.

    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:tefoso:v:200:y:2024:i:c:s0040162523007953. 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.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    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.