Tattoos are a form of art, self-expression, and tied to identity. As such, those with tattoos are perceived as signalling aspects of themselves when observers see visible tattoos. On the one hand, tattoos are perceived as signalling deviance or even criminal behaviour. On the other hand, tattoos are perceived as signalling positive self-expression and creativity.
Dr. Paula Kincaid and colleagues focused on tattoos as a signal of creativity by examining how visible tattoos can impact crowdfunding performance for new ventures.
In general, creativity is seen as beneficial for new ventures and crowdfunding, which suggests that visible tattoos could be an asset for crowdfunding regardless of the type of venture. However, considering the type of venture, tattoos might be particularly beneficial for artistic ventures compared to non-artistic ventures.
Kincaid and colleagues investigated 4 questions:
Are entrepreneurs more likely to display tattoos if there is more creative language in the crowdfunding campaign?
Are tattoos related to crowdfunding performance (i.e., amount of funding pledged and number of backers)?
Are tattoos more impactful in artistic vs non-artistic categories?
Are tattoos more impactful when there is less use of creative language?
The Study
Using the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, the researchers collected a random sample of 1,500 campaigns. Due to the visual nature of the research questions, the sample was limited to those campaigns that included visuals, either photos or videos, which decreased the sample to 619 crowdfunding campaigns.
Crowdfunding performance:
Amount of funds pledged
Number of backers
Tattoo presence:
Either yes or no tattoo displayed in campaign visual(s)
Creative language:
Variety of words used in the narrative describing the campaign
Type of venture:
Artistic vs non-artistic with artistic including ventures in the following categories: art, comics, dance, film & video, journalism, music, photography, publishing, and theater
Controls variables:
Number of photos and videos
Campaign funding duration and funding goal
Number of Facebook shares, entrepreneur’s projects, and collaborators
Category of campaign
If featured on Kickstarter as a favourite
Results: Do tattoos impact crowdfunding?
The more creativity expressed in the language used in the narratives, the more likely the visuals were to display tattoos
Campaigns with tattoos displayed in the visuals received more backers and more funds pledged compared to campaigns with no tattoos displayed
Tattoos displayed in the campaign positively impacted the number of backers for both artistic and non-artistic projects
Tattoos were positively related to funds pledged for non-artistic projects only, not artistic projects
Tattoos displayed were more beneficial for the number of backers and amount of funding pledged when creative language was low, and this was for artistic projects only (not non-artistic projects)
Key Takeaways: What does this mean for tattooed individuals?
If you are an entrepreneur crowdfunding for your new venture, consider including tattoos in your campaign visuals. The findings from this study suggest that having tattoos displayed in crowdfunding campaigns is associated with greater amounts of funding pledged and more backers. And displaying tattoos can benefit both artistic and non-artistic ventures. For artistic ventures, displaying tattoos could be particularly helpful if the narrative for the campaign is low in creativity, namely with less variety of words.
So entrepreneurs, don’t be afraid to display tattoos in your crowdfunding campaign, as displaying tattoos could benefit your crowdfunding performance!
TL;DR: 3 main takeaways:
Having tattoos displayed in campaign visuals is related to better crowdfunding performance (amount of funding pledged and number of backers) than no tattoos displayed.
Having tattoos displayed is related to more backers in both artistic and non-artistic categories; however, tattoos are only related to more funding pledged in non-artistic categories.
Having tattoos displayed is more beneficial for crowdfunding performance in artistic categories when the amount of creative language used in the campaign is low.
Kincaid, P. A., Short, J. C., & Wolfe, M. T. (2022). Got ink, get paid? Exploring the impact of tattoo visibility on crowdfunding performance. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 17, e00317.
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