Emotions and Values in Equity Crowdfunding Investment Choices 1

Equity crowdfunding is a new way for seed stage start-ups to generate initial capital and, as such, raises questions around the choices made by investors within this area. Understanding it is important for investor protection, as investors are generally unaware of the factors that can influence their decisions. However, investing in equity crowdfunding places the investor in a unique decision-making framework, in which resources such as images, videos and storytelling are all mobilized by entrepreneurs and platforms as tools of persuasion. This context thus seems to favor more holistic and emotional decision-making, rather than a process that is rational and analytical. T…