Leveraging the fear of missing out in equity crowdfunding

What is it about?

The work explores the role that the fear of missing out (FOMO) plays in equity crowdfunding and how it can be harnessed by entrepreneurs to foster community building in the post-Covid era. The research identifies that FOMO is a powerful belongingness facilitator to support the crowdinvestor’s self-determination strategies and thus their willingness to be part of a crowdfunding community to share in its values and beliefs. As such, FOMO can be used by entrepreneurs to activate identification mechanisms, through which they can create a loyal fan base. In dealing with FOMO an entrepreneur running an equity crowdfunding campaign generally has two options: the first one is to favour the emergence of FOMO or, the second, to control it. In other words, on the one hand, they could act to generate a feeling of a possible deprivation to provoke a quick decision to invest, on the other, they could act to prevent this from happening.

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Why is it important?

Having motivated investors on board through equity crowdfunding can support the company throughout its journey, and the relational social capital of the entrepreneur is of better quality. For this reason, it is important for entrepreneurs to carefully manage their relationship with investors, not trying to maximise their short-term advantage of getting the amount of money desired, but always acting with a long-term perspective.