Whose Rhetoric Matters? Social Responsibility Rhetoric and the Moderating Influence of Social Roles in Crowdfunding Pitches

Abstract We use role congruity theory to examine how differing role expectations surrounding entrepreneur gender and race shape the influence of social responsibility rhetoric used in crowdfunding pitches. To do so, we develop a novel content‐analytic measure of social responsibility rhetoric using the Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini (KLD) dimensions of social responsibility. Results indicate an inverted U‐shaped relationship between social responsibility rhetoric and funding. Campaigns created by men, particularly men of colour, experience larger performance gains from using such rhetoric than campaigns created by women, but have greater declines in performance at higher levels of such rhetoric. As such, our work extends recent findings regarding the potential ‘dark side’ of social responsibility by showing that the mere use of language related to social responsibility may have negative consequences. We also expand work in entrepreneurship concerning how gender and racial dynamics influence funding outcomes for entrepreneurs, while providing the first content‐analytic measure of social responsibility that is theoretically grounded in the widely used KLD conceptualization of social responsibility prominent in management and entrepreneurship research.