"Fund me, I am fabulous!" Do narcissistic entrepreneurs succeed or fail in crowdfunding?. (1st August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Butticè, Vincenzo; Rovelli, Paola
• Is Part Of: Personality and individual differences. Volume 162(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-08-01
• Subjects: Narcissism -- Entrepreneur -- Crowdfunding -- Success -- Industry; Personality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Personality Development -- Periodicals; Personnalité -- Périodiques; Individualité -- Périodiques; 155.205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110037
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0191-8869

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, we extend the nascent literature interested in understanding the role of narcissism in determining resource acquisition by entrepreneurs. Using a sample of 59, 538 crowdfunding campaigns launched by individual entrepreneurs on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and adopting an unobtrusive measure of narcissism derived from the literature, we demonstrate that a negative relation exists between narcissism and crowdfunding success: the greater the entrepreneur's narcissistic personality, the lower the probability s/he succeeds in funding her/his crowdfunding campaign. Nevertheless, this relation changes depending on the entrepreneurial context in which the entrepreneur sets her/his crowdfunding campaign. Highlights: Does narcissism influence entrepreneur's resource acquisition through crowdfunding? We analyze data from 59, 538 crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter. We measure entrepreneur's narcissism by means of the first-person pronoun usage. Entrepreneur's narcissism negatively relates to crowdfunding success. Results are contingent to the entrepreneurial context in which the campaign is set.