Gender-Based Familiarity in Equity Crowdfunding

We examine the role of gender-based familiarity on equity crowdfunding investments. Archival and experimental data largely confirmed the hypothesis that familiarity with a firm’s target market motivates lay investments. This effect was partially enhanced by gender-based ingroup bias. We found that stereotyped warmth perceptions may drive female (but not male) investors’ willingness to fund familiar firms. A post-hoc eyetracking study confirmed that amateur investors pay attention to gender cues when they review firm campaigns. Overall, our studies showed that female lay investors were consistently influenced by gender-based heuristics, with positive implications for female-oriented firms.