Facts or Emotions? How Information Load Influences Backers’ Support in Crowdfunding

Purpose: Although information is a core element of reward crowdfunding success, the subjective perception of information has received little research attention. Consequently, the influence of campaign information on backers’ support decisions and, in turn, campaign performance, remains unclear. Study Design: Based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this study implemented an experiment presenting central and peripheral informational cues for persuasion at two information load levels for two types of products (2 × 2 × 2). Data were analyzed using logistic regression and R. Findings: The results show that crowdfunding backers implement a two-step decision process when considering campaign support. In the first step, objective and perceived information loads influence backers’ intention to support a campaign. In the second step, the role of information load becomes less pronounced, and decisions about reward level and social media sharing are influenced by the characteristics of the backers and product. Contribution: The study provides insights into the influences of objective and perceived information load and their interaction while providing evidence for a two-step decision-making process by backers. Implications: The findings indicate that while rational and emotional information are important in backers’ decision to support a campaign and share it with others, too much rational information may trigger overload and deter support. Furthermore, for specific products, emotional information brings value when it is coupled with low rational information load.