{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90803"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90803","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Finding the loudest megaphone: recognition rewards and narcissistic investors","abstract":"The JOBS Act of 2012 established the regulatory infrastructure for crowdfunding platforms to offer securities to the public. The institutional framework of securities-based crowdfunding platforms adopts aspects of venture capital and rewards-based crowdfunding markets, with startups offering rewards in addition to equity. Using an experiment, I investigate whether a certain type of reward, which I call a recognition reward, tends to attract a narcissistic investor base, which, in turn, leads to an increase in a startup’s social media presence. I provide evidence that higher levels of narcissism are associated with a higher value being placed on recognition rewards. In addition, I find that narcissists are more likely to post about their investment on social media, and that this is especially true when rewards are offered. A simulation analysis suggests that offering recognition rewards increases the chances that a crowdfunding campaign will be funded and that its investors will post about it on social media. Since higher levels of narcissism are associated with a greater number of friends and followers on social media websites, the simulation also shows that more people are likely to be exposed to the crowdfunding campaign when recognition rewards are offered to investors. Social media exposure allows crowdfunding campaigns to gain attention via social media without violating the restrictions placed on general solicitation, and may also lead to increased advertisement of their products after a campaign is completed.","abstract_html":"The JOBS Act of 2012 established the regulatory infrastructure for crowdfunding platforms to offer securities to the public. The institutional framework of securities-based crowdfunding platforms adopts aspects of venture capital and rewards-based crowdfunding markets, with startups offering rewards in addition to equity. Using an experiment, I investigate whether a certain type of reward, which I call a recognition reward, tends to attract a narcissistic investor base, which, in turn, leads to an increase in a startup’s social media presence. I provide evidence that higher levels of narcissism are associated with a higher value being placed on recognition rewards. In addition, I find that narcissists are more likely to post about their investment on social media, and that this is especially true when rewards are offered. A simulation analysis suggests that offering recognition rewards increases the chances that a crowdfunding campaign will be funded and that its investors will post about it on social media. Since higher levels of narcissism are associated with a greater number of friends and followers on social media websites, the simulation also shows that more people are likely to be exposed to the crowdfunding campaign when recognition rewards are offered to investors. Social media exposure allows crowdfunding campaigns to gain attention via social media without violating the restrictions placed on general solicitation, and may also lead to increased advertisement of their products after a campaign is completed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Stern, Matthew T"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Accountancy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elliott, Wynter B.","Peecher, Mark E.","Hobson, Jessen L.","Brown, Timothy J","Weisbenner, Scott"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-07-07T20:27:51Z","date_published":"2016-07-07T20:27:51Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:34Z","subjects":["crowdfunding","social media","narcissism"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Matthew Stern"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90803","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elliott, Wynter B.","Peecher, Mark E.","Hobson, Jessen L.","Brown, Timothy J","Weisbenner, Scott"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Stern, Matthew T"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016-07-07T20:27:51Z","2018-07-08T09:15:09Z","2016-04-20","2016-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Accountancy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["crowdfunding","social media","narcissism"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Matthew Stern"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90803"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The JOBS Act of 2012 established the regulatory infrastructure for crowdfunding platforms to offer securities to the public. The institutional framework of securities-based crowdfunding platforms adopts aspects of venture capital and rewards-based crowdfunding markets, with startups offering rewards in addition to equity. Using an experiment, I investigate whether a certain type of reward, which I call a recognition reward, tends to attract a narcissistic investor base, which, in turn, leads to an increase in a startup’s social media presence. I provide evidence that higher levels of narcissism are associated with a higher value being placed on recognition rewards. In addition, I find that narcissists are more likely to post about their investment on social media, and that this is especially true when rewards are offered. A simulation analysis suggests that offering recognition rewards increases the chances that a crowdfunding campaign will be funded and that its investors will post about it on social media. Since higher levels of narcissism are associated with a greater number of friends and followers on social media websites, the simulation also shows that more people are likely to be exposed to the crowdfunding campaign when recognition rewards are offered to investors. Social media exposure allows crowdfunding campaigns to gain attention via social media without violating the restrictions placed on general solicitation, and may also lead to increased advertisement of their products after a campaign is completed.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2018-05-01","The student, Matthew Stern, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-20 at 09:28.","The student, Matthew Stern, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2016-04-20 at 09:33.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-04-20 at 13:21.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9367 on 2016-07-07 at 13:50:16","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T20:27:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 STERN-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf: 1568849 bytes, checksum: 8cc4bb1e3564ff94d82359e52d0d0280 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4210 bytes, checksum: ea8338a93f023738ab2dbc8e512d326f (MD5) PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4556 bytes, checksum: eabb341db3d04af3ceb6a998d1a42487 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-20","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 93155 Lift date: 2018-07-07T20:28:14Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 93155 Lift date: 2018-07-07T20:35:34Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","U of I Only Restriction Lifted for Item 93155 on 2018-07-08T09:15:09Z."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Finding the loudest megaphone: recognition rewards and narcissistic investors"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Elliott, Wynter B.","Peecher, Mark E.","Hobson, Jessen L.","Brown, Timothy J","Weisbenner, Scott"],"dc:creator":["Stern, Matthew T"],"dc:date":["2016-07-07T20:27:51Z","2018-07-08T09:15:09Z","2016-04-20","2016-05"],"dc:description":["The JOBS Act of 2012 established the regulatory infrastructure for crowdfunding platforms to offer securities to the public. The institutional framework of securities-based crowdfunding platforms adopts aspects of venture capital and rewards-based crowdfunding markets, with startups offering rewards in addition to equity. Using an experiment, I investigate whether a certain type of reward, which I call a recognition reward, tends to attract a narcissistic investor base, which, in turn, leads to an increase in a startup’s social media presence. I provide evidence that higher levels of narcissism are associated with a higher value being placed on recognition rewards. In addition, I find that narcissists are more likely to post about their investment on social media, and that this is especially true when rewards are offered. A simulation analysis suggests that offering recognition rewards increases the chances that a crowdfunding campaign will be funded and that its investors will post about it on social media. Since higher levels of narcissism are associated with a greater number of friends and followers on social media websites, the simulation also shows that more people are likely to be exposed to the crowdfunding campaign when recognition rewards are offered to investors. Social media exposure allows crowdfunding campaigns to gain attention via social media without violating the restrictions placed on general solicitation, and may also lead to increased advertisement of their products after a campaign is completed.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2018-05-01","The student, Matthew Stern, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-20 at 09:28.","The student, Matthew Stern, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2016-04-20 at 09:33.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-04-20 at 13:21.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9367 on 2016-07-07 at 13:50:16","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T20:27:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 STERN-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf: 1568849 bytes, checksum: 8cc4bb1e3564ff94d82359e52d0d0280 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4210 bytes, checksum: ea8338a93f023738ab2dbc8e512d326f (MD5) PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4556 bytes, checksum: eabb341db3d04af3ceb6a998d1a42487 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-20","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 93155 Lift date: 2018-07-07T20:28:14Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 93155 Lift date: 2018-07-07T20:35:34Z Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","U of I Only Restriction Lifted for Item 93155 on 2018-07-08T09:15:09Z."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90803"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2016 Matthew Stern"],"dc:subject":["crowdfunding","social media","narcissism"],"dc:title":["Finding the loudest megaphone: recognition rewards and narcissistic investors"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Accountancy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:34Z"}