The Indirect Effect of Gender in Crowdfunding: The Role of Quality Signaling Strategy and Team

The Indirect Effect of Gender in Crowdfunding: The Role of Quality Signaling Strategy and Team | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Indirect Effect of Gender in Crowdfunding: The Role of Quality Signaling Strategy and Team Cristina Martínez Gómez, Pablo Blas Tupac Silva Barbosa This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6528650/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative financing mechanism that reduces entry barriers for diverse groups. However, whether the gender composition of entrepreneurs’ leadership teams affects campaign success remains an open question. This study examines how two key determinants of crowdfunding success, quality signaling strategies and team size, vary with the gender composition of management teams. We apply structural equation modeling, a particularly suitable yet seldom employed method in crowdfunding research, in order to test both the direct effect and the indirect effect of gender on success level channeled through management team strategies. Using data from Crowdcube, a leading crowdfunding investment platform, we find that these indirect effect implies up to 33.4% lower success level of female-led teams compared to their male-led counterparts. Interestingly, we also find that the size of the team does not have a direct effect on success; its influence operates through the signaling strategy adopted. These findings underscore the central role of management strategies in shaping campaign outcomes and suggest that gender disparities in success stem from differential strategic signaling behavior. JEL Classification: G14 , D26 , M13 , J16 , C30 Crowdfunding Gender gaps Indirect effects Team size Signaling strategy Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6528650","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":447990652,"identity":"8330131f-b625-47ca-b4c9-79d74266fa53","order_by":0,"name":"Cristina Martínez Gómez","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAxUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADOQaGAyRqMSZdS2ID0Ur5px2/+OhGRV36hoOHHz4uYLCxJ6hF4nZOsXHOGbbcDQeOGRvPYEgjbJ2BdE6adG4bD1DLATNpHobDCQRtgWj5J5FucOD49988DP8JO8xAOv2YdG6DQYLBgTNmzDwMBxgJOgzoF2bjnGMJhjMPnCmW5jFIJuwX/tnpDx/n1NTJ8904vvEzT4UdYYcxMPAYQO07AHInERoYGNgfQO0j6KJRMApGwSgYqQAAKWg8wTZA3mAAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8732-817X","institution":"Universidad de Jaén","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Cristina","middleName":"Martínez","lastName":"Gómez","suffix":""},{"id":447990653,"identity":"6bb2a75c-cb2d-4aae-b9f9-845006a1718b","order_by":1,"name":"Pablo Blas Tupac Silva Barbosa","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1996-999X","institution":"Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pablo","middleName":"Blas Tupac Silva","lastName":"Barbosa","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-25 11:52:55","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6528650/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6528650/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81501029,"identity":"e5eaf3b9-faad-4e6d-9c1c-7f04a454abe3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-28 04:05:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":553314,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SubmissionSmallBusEcon2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6528650/v1_covered_0482b674-7fc2-4aa2-9618-91e7da4783e5.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eThe Indirect Effect of Gender in Crowdfunding: The Role of Quality Signaling Strategy and Team\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Universidad de Jaén","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Crowdfunding, Gender gaps, Indirect effects, Team size, Signaling strategy","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6528650/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6528650/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCrowdfunding has emerged as an alternative financing mechanism that reduces entry barriers for diverse groups. 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