PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES IN CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS: ANALYZING SUCCESSFUL VERSUS UNSUCCESSFUL KICKSTARTER PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

Abstract

The proposed research explores the rhetorical devices used in Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns descriptions comparing 240 successful and 240 unsuccessful projects in five high activity categories, including technology, design, games, film and video, and music. Based on theoretical models of classical Aristotelian rhetoric, narrative transportation theory, construal level theory, and social proof mechanisms, the study systematically examines how the creators of campaigns use words to gain commitment of their backers and attract financial support. We use ethos-building credential narratives, pathos-ridden emotional appeals, logos-driven specificity, narrative origin structures, social proof frames and concrete versus abstract language to distinguish funded and unfunded campaigns through a convergent mixed-methods design that an application of corpus linguistic analysis of more than 480,000 words of campaign text, theoretically motivated feature extraction, logistic regression modeling, and qualitative rhetorical close reading. We find that successful campaigns use a unified rhetoric frame of personal credibility storeys, precisely defined product descriptions, community framing that is emotional resonance, and accountability of budget. The abstract visionary speech, unsubstantiated credential statements, and disjointed narrative forms all are overrepresented in unsuccessful campaigns and do little or nothing to decrease the perceived risk of backers. A logistic regression model that includes 22 linguistic and rhetorical characteristics gives campaign results 79.6% cross-validated accuracy with narrative arc completeness, budget transparency and concrete language density being the best single predictors of funding success. The research will add to the field of persuasion studies, corpus-based discourse analysis research and current literature on platform rhetoric, offering a theoretically informed empirical explanation of how language serves as the main tool of financial mobilisation in digital crowdfunding situations. Research findings have direct practical implications on the creators of campaigns, platform designers, and scholars investigating participatory digital economies.