Healthcare Crowdfunding: The Impact of Communication on Campaign Success

Crowdfunding is increasingly emerging in the healthcare sector as a tool to support patients and families in raising funds for medical treatments, as well as to finance innovation in the medical field. The growing relevance of this phenomenon has also attracted academic interest, with scholars primarily focusing on identifying the factors that drive the success of medical crowdfunding campaigns.However, academic research has largely concentrated on campaigns aimed at facilitating access to care, while neglecting those related to healthcare innovation promoted by entrepreneurs.This study seeks to address this significant gap in the literature by investigating, through the lens of signaling theory, the effect of communication characteristics on the success of healthcare crowdfunding campaigns. To this end, an econometric analysis was conducted on a sample of 544 campaigns launched in the United States on the Kickstarter platform between 2010 and 2021. The results show that a greater presence of videos, updates, and comments, betterreadability, and a stronger community orientation increase the likelihood of success for healthcare crowdfunding campaigns, while excessive text length has a negative impact. This study extends the academic literature and offers relevant practical implications.

Keywords: crowdfunding; communication; Kickstarter; signaling theory

Candida Bussoli, Saida El-Assal, Nicola Raimo, Filippo Vitolla, Il crowdfunding in ambito sanitario: l’impatto della comunicazione sul successo delle campagne in "MECOSAN" 132/2024, pp 55-71, DOI: 10.3280/mesa2024-132oa20678