2.1 Video’s ubiquitous power for the entrepreneur
The use of video in crowdfunding campaigns has become an indispensable
tool for creators seeking to raise funds for their projects. Carradini
and Fleischmann’s (2023) research underscores the significance of
multimedia elements in crowdfunding campaigns on platforms like
Kickstarter. Their study of over 327,000 campaign pages revealed that
successful campaigns frequently featured images, links, and most
notably, a project video. The presence of a project video, they
demonstrate, has a direct positive impact on the campaign’s success
rate. These results are widely supported in the literature, indicating
that the use of video to deliver the pitch likely increases the
entrepreneur’s chances of funding success by significant margins
(Courtney et al., 2017; Johan & Zhang, 2020; X. Li et al., 2016;
Mollick, 2014).
This phenomenon is not new. Early in the modern online crowdfunding era,
Indiegogo (2011) reported that campaigns with videos are 2.4 times more
likely to appear on the homepage and raising 114% more money than those
without a video. Kickstarter likewise suggested in 2012 that, “projects
with videos succeed at a much higher rate than those without (50% vs.
30%)” (O’Connell & Kurtz, 2012). Just three years later, Yeh (Yeh,
2015) confirmed this new normal with a study showing that online
crowdfunding campaigns with video were found to have on average four
times the funding earnings total of those projects without video.