Visual totality of rewards-based crowdfunding pitch videos: Disentangling the impact of peak negative affective visual expression on funding outcomes

In this study, we introduce visual totality of a crowdfunding pitch video which considers not only visual segments with human faces but also segments without human faces. Drawing from Emotions as Social Information (EASI) theory and expression theory, we analyze more than 4 million frames in 3184 Indiegogo rewards-based crowdfunding pitch videos using the ResNet 50 deep neural network. Results indicate that the impact of peak negative affective visual expression on funding performance is stronger than that of its positive counterpart for both segments with and without human faces. Additionally, the influence of peak negative affective visual expression from human faces is stronger in the first half (vs. the second half) of the pitch video. Further, we found a substitute moderating effect between the peak negative affective visual expression from segments with and without human faces on funding performance. We conducted an additional data collection to ascertain that pain points serve as the underlying mechanism through which negative affective visual expressions related to funding outcome. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study to the crowdfunding literature and the broader research on entrepreneurial resource acquisition.     

What's in a logo? The impact of complex visual cues in equity crowdfunding

Visual cues are pervasive on crowdfunding platforms. However, whether and how low validity visual cues can impact the behavior of backers remains largely unknown. In this article, we propose a disfluency-based heuristic framework for understanding the influence of low validity visual cues on equity crowdfunding platforms. Drawing on processing fluency theory and visual heuristics, we propose that backers often automatically process visual cues, and that the subjective experience of ease/difficulty with which backers perceptually process low validity visual cues serves as a heuristic and informs their perceptions of early-stage entrepreneurial ventures. We test our propositions focusing on logos (low validity visual cues that are particularly salient and ubiquitous on equity crowdfunding platforms) and logo complexity (a fundamental characteristic of logo design and established antecedent of processing disfluency). We contend that logo complexity can be interpreted by backers as a signal of venture innovativeness because more (vs. less) complex logos are more difficult to process, and thus, feel less familiar and more unique, original, and novel to backers. Since backers often value innovativeness, we further contend that logo complexity can positively impact backers' funding decisions. We find support for our framework and propositions using a multimethod approach comprising three studies: one survey, one field study, and one experiment. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are also discussed.     

Bellwether and the herd? Unpacking the u-shaped relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions in reward-based crowdfunding

Building on the insights from observational learning and other social influence research, this study challenges the existing literature that proposes a linear relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions in the crowdfunding setting. Instead, we propose a U-shaped relationship, illustrating a negative relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions when funding amounts are small and this relationship becomes positive when prior funding amounts are large. Consistent with the rational herding perspective, we assume that individuals do not mindlessly mimic one others' behaviors, but incorporate quality signals into their decision-making. Signals indicating a high quality project such as video quality, as well as the preparedness and passion of the entrepreneur enhance this U-shaped relationship whereas indicators of situational urgency weaken this relationship. Based on a sample of 11,019 daily observations of 333 Kickstarter projects, we find general support for our hypotheses. Our post hoc experiment further supports the mechanisms underlying the U-shaped relationship. This paper extends our understanding of the relationship between past actions and subsequent behavior, and contributes to the literatures of observational learning, crowdfunding, and visual information.Executive summaryWe challenge the extant literature that has proposed, but inconsistently documented, a positive effect of prior funding on subsequent crowdfunding contributions. We argue that such inconsistency is due to the lack of integration of insights from other social influence research, such as observational learning, threshold models, and bystander effects. This research has been limited when postulating that crowdfunding backers simply imitate others' actions in order to mitigate uncertainty producing a linear effect, yet such an effect depends on the intensity of others' actions and may be curvilinear. This research overlooks the fact that backers do not merely passively imitate others' behaviors, but incorporate quality signals sent by entrepreneurs to make such decisions. Thus, it is important to account for potential moderators that may influence the complex relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions.Based on observational learning research and related models, accrued prior funding may be perceived differently by potential backers: individuals may view accrued funding as a sign of a decreased funding need on the part of a campaign's creators, because others are already backing the campaign or, alternatively, they may see it as a cue of high product quality. These conflicting effects may lead to a U-shaped relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions at a collective level. At low funding levels, prior funding may be negatively associated with subsequent contributions because such levels indicate there is already support, but that the campaign may not be of high quality. At medium levels, prior funding may have no effect on contributions, aside from halfhearted interest of other backers. At high levels, prior funding may be positively related to subsequent contributions as this sends a robust cue of project quality and convinces prospective donors to contribute. Further, we derive a U-shaped relationship which may be moderated by visual media-based quality signals and situational urgency.To test these hypotheses, we conducted two studies. One was a field study of 333 Kickstarter projects, with 11,019 daily observations of crowdfunding activities from mid-February 2013 through mid-April 2013. We used the Kicktraq website to track Kickstarter projects and recruited 390 participants via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to evaluate the video pitches on Kickstarter. Our results suggest a negative relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions when funding amounts are small. This relationship becomes positive when prior funding amounts are large. Thus, we find a U-shaped relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions, with an inflection point when prior funding amounts reach between 72% and 80% of the funding goal. This is strengthened in the presence of visual media-based quality signals, such as video quality, as well as the preparedness and passion of the entrepreneur. However, indicators of situational urgency may weaken this U-shaped relationship.We followed up with a post hoc experiment to document the two mechanisms by which prior funding influence subsequent contributions. We found that increases in the prior funding amount increased perceived product quality but decreased perceived urgency. These perceptions were found to jointly influence participants' proposed pledged amounts, supporting an explanation of a complex relationship between prior funding and subsequent contributions.This study is among the first to offer a more complete picture of the relationship between past actions and subsequent behavior under market and institutional constraints (i.e., when market actors observe the censored behaviors of other actors on crowdfunding platforms) and contributes to the literatures of observational learning, crowdfunding, and visual information.     

Can you hear me now? Engendering passion and preparedness perceptions with vocal expressions in crowdfunding pitches

The voice is often the only continuous channel of expression in pitch videos. We isolate the influence of entrepreneurs' vocal expressions on funding by examining how valence (positivity/negativity) and arousal (activation) shape funders' perceptions of passion and preparedness. We show that an entrepreneur's high-arousal vocal expressions, whether positive or negative, increase perceptions of their passion. Entrepreneurs are perceived as more prepared when the valence and arousal of their vocal expressions are congruent. We test our hypotheses in the context of rewards-based crowdfunding, using both an experiment and a speech affect analysis of real-world crowdfunding pitches.     

基于分离卷积的战场目标聚集行为识别

针对大部分行为识别算法效率较低，难以应对大规模影像识别任务的问题，一方面，提出一种结合双流结构与多纤维网络的双流多纤维网络模型，分别以RGB序列、光流序列为输入提取视频的时空信息，然后将两条支路网络的识别结果进行决策相加，提高了对战场目标聚集行为的检测效率与识别准确率；另一方面，提出一种结合分离卷积思想与多纤维网络的双流分离卷积多纤维网络模型，进一步提高网络检测效率与抗过拟合能力。实验表明，在建立的情报影像仿真数据集中，上述算法能够有效识别出战场目标聚集行为，在大幅提升检测效率同时实现了识别准确率的提升。     

Effects of Disclosing Influencer Marketing in Videos: An Eye Tracking Study Among Children in Early Adolescence

This study focused on the effects of sponsorship disclosure timing on children's ability to understand that social influencer videos are sponsored. The study also investigated how sponsorship disclosure timing affects children's attitudes toward the sponsoring brand, the video, and the influencer. An experiment among 272 children in early adolescence (10–13 years of age) was conducted using eye tracking. Results show that a disclosure shown prior to the start of the videos leads to more visual attention than a disclosure shown concurrently with the start of videos. Consequently, disclosure prior to the start of videos is better processed, as indicated by disclosure memory, which then leads to a better understanding that the content is sponsored. This understanding evokes a more critical attitude toward the sponsored content in the video, and results in less positive attitudes toward the brands, the videos, and the influencers. Theoretically, this study provides insights into the mechanisms that explain disclosure timing effects among children in early adolescence. Practically, this study offers recommendations to policy makers to develop sponsorship disclosures that can increase transparency of online embedded advertising to minors.     

Skin in the game: Self-funding and reward crowdfunding success

This article focuses on entrepreneurs’ self-funding behavior in the reward crowdfunding context and its relation to crowdfunding success. Theoretically anchoring our discussion in signaling theory, we argue that self-funding sends similar information to that conveyed by quick-fix bootstrapping efforts. Accordingly, we hypothesize that self-funding behavior is positively associated with crowdfunding success as it can help alleviate uncertainties around a fundraiser’s intent and quality as perceived by prospective backers. To show this, we use a sample of 1,583 campaigns collected from Zhongchou, the largest Chinese reward-based crowdfunding platform, to test our hypotheses. Our results demonstrate that entrepreneurs' direct self-funding is positively associated with crowdfunding success. Moreover, this effect is partially mediated by the quality of campaigns’ content elements.     

在Director中用Lingo语言实现视频播放器的方法

在用Director开发设计多媒体课件时，为了实现对视频文件的正常播放控制，可用Lingo语言来设计视频播放器。本文提供了一种设计方法，这种方法具有编程简单、容易移植的特点，在多媒体课件的开发设计中有一定的参考价值。     

Entrepreneurial risk-taking in crowdfunding campaigns

This paper examines how different sources of risk in reward-based crowdfunding campaigns influence the entrepreneur’s choice of targeted crowdfunding goal. This form of crowdfunding helps entrepreneurs to obtain feedback on market demand (next to raising money), since the pre-purchase decision of the crowd generates useful public information about product demand. However, it may also lead to project discontinuation if not enough money is raised during the campaign. We therefore derive conditions under which the entrepreneur sets a higher target. At other times, this leads entrepreneurs to raise sometimes even more money than necessary when there is a risk that the idea is quickly replicated by others, leading to even larger campaigns but also to fewer projects offered on platforms. Conversely, the increased presence of professional investors (business angels, venture capitalists) on platforms reduces the entrepreneurs’ incentives in their crowdfunding campaign, which leads to more but on average smaller crowdfunding campaigns.     

基于L曲线的自适应时空正则化视频超分辨率重建

为了解决视频超分辨率重建的病态问题,以得到良好的重建效果,提出了一种新颖的视频超分辨率重建算法。在算法中引入了时空联合正则化算子,通过视频帧本身的空间平滑信息和视频相邻帧的帧间相关先验信息的引入,提高了解的质量;同时,为了选择合适的时空正则化系数,提出了基于L曲线的自适应时空正则化系数计算方法,可以自适应地计算合适的正则化系数。通过对模拟图像序列和真实视频序列的实验结果表明,算法能得到较为精确的解,重建出具有良好视觉效果的高分辨率视频。     

A rewarding experience? Exploring how crowdfunding is affecting music industry business models

This paper provides an exploratory study of how rewards-based crowdfunding affects business model development for music industry artists, labels and live sector companies. The empirical methodology incorporated a qualitative, semi-structured, three-stage interview design with fifty seven senior executives from industry crowdfunding platforms and three stakeholder groups. The results and analysis cover new research ground and provide conceptual models to develop theoretical foundations for further research in this field. The findings indicate that the financial model benefits of crowdfunding for independent artists are dependent on fan base demographic variables relating to age group and genre due to sustained apprehension from younger audiences. Furthermore, major labels are now considering a more user-centric financial model as an innovation strategy, and the impact of crowdfunding on their marketing model may already be initiating its development in terms of creativity, strength and artist relations.     

Working the crowd: Leveraging podcasts to enhance crowdfunding success

Crowdfunding has become an increasingly popular tool for entrepreneurs to solicit public funding from individuals. As its popularity grows, entrepreneurs are seeking to learn more about crowdfunding to improve their chances of success. In this article, we explore how podcasts can offer fresh insights to crowdfunding and serve as an effective tool for entrepreneurs to improve their knowledge and the likelihood that their campaigns are funded. We discuss key insights for entrepreneurs offered by ten popular podcast episodes on crowdfunding. Each episode offers enduring lessons for entrepreneurs interested in launching a campaign and also exemplifies the value that podcasts can potentially offer entrepreneurs.     

Simplicity is not key: Understanding firm-generated social media images and consumer liking

Social media platforms are becoming increasingly important marketing channels, and recently these channels are becoming dominated by content that is not textual, but visual in nature. In this paper, we explore the relationship between the visual complexity of firm-generated imagery (FGI) and consumer liking on social media. We use previously validated image mining methods, to automatically extract interpretable visual complexity measures from images. We construct a set of six interpretable measures that are categorized as either (1) feature complexity measures (i.e., unstructured pixel-level variation; color, luminance, and edges) or (2) design complexity measures (i.e., structured design-level variation; number of objects, irregularity of object arrangement, and asymmetry of object arrangement). These measures and their interpretability are validated using a human subject experiment. Subsequently, we relate these visual complexity measures to the number of likes. The results show an inverted u-shape between feature complexity and consumer liking and a regular u-shape relationship between design complexity and consumer liking. In addition, we demonstrate that using the six individual measures that constitute feature- and design complexity provides a more nuanced view of the relationship between the unique aspects of visual complexity and consumer liking of FGI on social media than observed in previous studies that used a more aggregated measure. Overall, the automated framework presented in this paper opens up a wide range of possibilities for studying the role of visual complexity in online content.     

Beyond financing: crowdfunding as an informational mechanism

Besides providing financial support for new ventures, crowdfunding can bring additional advantages for entrepreneurs. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that crowdfunding also serves as an informational mechanism. Using a unique dataset built with publicly available data from Internet-based sources, and after controlling for alternative explanations, we empirically show that when not successful on crowdfunding, thus not accessing capital, project owners may decide to release the product in the market if contributions suggest positive valuation from the “crowd”.     

When consumers become project backers: The psychological consequences of participation in crowdfunding

Crowdfunding involves financing new ventures by relying on a large number of individual project backers who typically receive the venture's new product as a reward for their financial support. In three experimental studies, it is revealed that crowdfunding participation increases the extent to which consumers can personally connect to and identify with the focal venture compared to customers who merely buy the product in a classic market exchange setting (the baseline in our analysis). This identification process, which is rooted in the insight that one's financial contribution is perceived to be more meaningful to the focal venture, is also shown to trigger behavioral effects on important outcome variables such as increased subsequent consumption of the venture's products and more positive word-of-mouth behavior. The studies thus validate the idea that crowdfunding may be an effective tool to build strong(er) relationships with the venture's initial customer base. Hence, crowdfunding might not only answer the question “Where could I get funding from?” but also another: “Where can I effectively connect with my future customers?” The findings further point to interesting consequences for participating consumers: because the venture is more strongly perceived as theirs, this means that also the associations linked to it may rub off more strongly on their sense of self compared to customers who merely buy the same venture's product in a classic market exchange setting. Crowdfunding participation may thus more strongly effect a qualitative change in the consumer's self-concept.     

超混沌视频加密系统的FPGA设计与实现

随着多媒体技术的不断发展，视频信息安全愈发受到人们的关注。为解决视频信息的安全问题，提出了一种基于现场可编程门阵列(FPGA)技术的超混沌视频加密方法。在加密过程中，一方面FPGA控制数字摄像头实现实时彩色视频信息的采集；另一方面，在计算机密钥指令下，利用FPGA使超混沌系统产生有效的伪随机序列，实现对所采集视频信息的数据和地址的双重超混沌加密。给出了具体的超混沌视频加密算法和设计流程以及FPGA实现结果。安全性分析表明，明密文主观视觉对比显著不同，密钥空间大，视频图像统计特性的相关性弱，说明基于FPGA的超混沌视频加密系统加密效果良好可靠。     

Red flags and rave reviews: Explaining too-good-to-be-true crowdfunding campaigns

Crowdfunding platforms enable entrepreneurs to bring to life ideas that may otherwise have remained unrealized. When crowdfunding campaigns go well, campaigners are able to fulfill their vision, funders’ engagement is rewarded, and society gains access to a range of new offerings. But some recent high-profile medical-technology campaigns have failed to deliver their promised rewards despite reaching and at times far exceeding their funding goals. The objectives of this article are to shed light on why donors fund campaigns that turn out to be too good to be true and to examine how this engagement reduces trust in crowdfunding. To this end, I explore the role of product creativity as a dual mechanism for both funding success and postfunding delivery failure. Product creativity is typically associated with positive crowdfunding outcomes. But in the context of medical-technology campaigns, product creativity may make community members more attracted to campaigns that are less likely to deliver on their campaign promises. This phenomenon then increases the likelihood that the campaign will reduce trust in crowdfunding, hurting donors, the focal venture, and future campaigners. I offer practical implications for crowdfunding platforms, campaigners, and supporters interested in learning more about the pitfalls associated with initially successful crowdfunding campaigns.     

Regional social capital and moral hazard in crowdfunding

We contribute to institutional and social capital theory by developing a theoretical framework that suggests that informal and formal institutions are important in mitigating moral hazard in reward-based crowdfunding. We analyze a large sample of Kickstarter campaigns to test these predictions. We find a strong positive relationship between entrepreneurs' home-county social capital and their crowdfunding performance. A rule change that strengthens entrepreneurs' obligation to provide backers with the promised rewards is associated with a reduction in the effect of social capital, suggesting that formal institutions can substitute for informal ones and provides causal evidence of the effect of social capital.     

实时视频网络传输系统实现技术

随着国际互联网的发展和信息化社会的不断进步,报纸作为一种传统的大众传播媒介,正经历着巨大的冲击与变革。因此,报纸行业纷纷与新兴的网络媒体相结合,组建自己的报纸网站,在其功能日臻完善的同时,逐渐占领并不断开拓更广阔的市场。作为一种新型的商业模式,报纸网站有着自己鲜明的特点,是一种正在对个人及社会影响越来越大的传媒形态。