It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it: linguistic styles and ICOs success

Eleonora Monaco; Gianni Onesti; Diogo Cruz; Pierangelo Rosati

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-87842-9_9

It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it: linguistic styles and ICOs success

Eleonora Monaco^*, Gianni Onesti, Diogo Cruz, Pierangelo Rosati

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

14 Downloads

Abstract

Digital technologies have created new alternative sources of entrepreneurial finance that create significant opportunities for start-ups and entrepreneurs. Among them, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have attracted significant attention from the start-up community and from investors. Despite all the hype around ICOs and the growing number of new token offerings being launched on a daily basis, little is known about the characteristics of successful ICOs. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring whether and how the linguistic styles adopted in the white paper affects the success of an ICO as measured by the actual amount raised by the offering. Our results are based on a primary dataset of 131 ICOs completed between June 2017 and October 2018. Our results suggest that the use of precise language is positively associated with the amount funded while the use of a concrete language and more numerical terms is negatively associated with the amount funded. This study contributes to the growing literature on ICOs by providing novel insights into the role of the communication strategy adopted by token issuers.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Exploring innovation in a digital world - cultural and organizational challenges
Editors	Federica Ceci, Andrea Prencipe, Paolo Spagnoletti
Publisher	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages	109-121
Number of pages	13
ISBN (Electronic)	9783030878429
ISBN (Print)	9783030878412
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87842-9_9
Publication status	Published - 2021
Event	Annual conference of the Italian Chapter of AIS, 2020 - Pescara, Italy Duration: 16 Oct 2020 → 17 Oct 2020

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation
Volume	51 LNISO
ISSN (Print)	2195-4968
ISSN (Electronic)	2195-4976

Conference

Conference	Annual conference of the Italian Chapter of AIS, 2020
Country/Territory	Italy
City	Pescara
Period	16/10/20 → 17/10/20

Keywords

Entrepreneurial finance
ICOs
Initial coin offerings
Linguistic styles

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-87842-9_9

39305261Accepted author manuscript, 299 KBLicence: Unspecified

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/36305Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

Monaco, E., Onesti, G., Cruz, D., & Rosati, P. (2021). It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it: linguistic styles and ICOs success. In F. Ceci, A. Prencipe, & P. Spagnoletti (Eds.), Exploring innovation in a digital world - cultural and organizational challenges (pp. 109-121). (Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation; Vol. 51 LNISO). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87842-9_9

Monaco, Eleonora ; Onesti, Gianni ; Cruz, Diogo et al. / It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it : linguistic styles and ICOs success. Exploring innovation in a digital world - cultural and organizational challenges. editor / Federica Ceci ; Andrea Prencipe ; Paolo Spagnoletti. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2021. pp. 109-121 (Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation).

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abstract = "Digital technologies have created new alternative sources of entrepreneurial finance that create significant opportunities for start-ups and entrepreneurs. Among them, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have attracted significant attention from the start-up community and from investors. Despite all the hype around ICOs and the growing number of new token offerings being launched on a daily basis, little is known about the characteristics of successful ICOs. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring whether and how the linguistic styles adopted in the white paper affects the success of an ICO as measured by the actual amount raised by the offering. Our results are based on a primary dataset of 131 ICOs completed between June 2017 and October 2018. Our results suggest that the use of precise language is positively associated with the amount funded while the use of a concrete language and more numerical terms is negatively associated with the amount funded. This study contributes to the growing literature on ICOs by providing novel insights into the role of the communication strategy adopted by token issuers.",

keywords = "Entrepreneurial finance, ICOs, Initial coin offerings, Linguistic styles",

author = "Eleonora Monaco and Gianni Onesti and Diogo Cruz and Pierangelo Rosati",

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doi = "10.1007/978-3-030-87842-9_9",

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Monaco, E, Onesti, G, Cruz, D & Rosati, P 2021, It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it: linguistic styles and ICOs success. in F Ceci, A Prencipe & P Spagnoletti (eds), Exploring innovation in a digital world - cultural and organizational challenges. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol. 51 LNISO, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, pp. 109-121, Annual conference of the Italian Chapter of AIS, 2020, Pescara, Italy, 16/10/20. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87842-9_9

It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it: linguistic styles and ICOs success. / Monaco, Eleonora; Onesti, Gianni; Cruz, Diogo et al.
Exploring innovation in a digital world - cultural and organizational challenges. ed. / Federica Ceci; Andrea Prencipe; Paolo Spagnoletti. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2021. p. 109-121 (Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation; Vol. 51 LNISO).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it

T2 - Annual conference of the Italian Chapter of AIS, 2020

AU - Monaco, Eleonora

AU - Onesti, Gianni

AU - Cruz, Diogo

AU - Rosati, Pierangelo

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Digital technologies have created new alternative sources of entrepreneurial finance that create significant opportunities for start-ups and entrepreneurs. Among them, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have attracted significant attention from the start-up community and from investors. Despite all the hype around ICOs and the growing number of new token offerings being launched on a daily basis, little is known about the characteristics of successful ICOs. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring whether and how the linguistic styles adopted in the white paper affects the success of an ICO as measured by the actual amount raised by the offering. Our results are based on a primary dataset of 131 ICOs completed between June 2017 and October 2018. Our results suggest that the use of precise language is positively associated with the amount funded while the use of a concrete language and more numerical terms is negatively associated with the amount funded. This study contributes to the growing literature on ICOs by providing novel insights into the role of the communication strategy adopted by token issuers.

AB - Digital technologies have created new alternative sources of entrepreneurial finance that create significant opportunities for start-ups and entrepreneurs. Among them, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have attracted significant attention from the start-up community and from investors. Despite all the hype around ICOs and the growing number of new token offerings being launched on a daily basis, little is known about the characteristics of successful ICOs. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring whether and how the linguistic styles adopted in the white paper affects the success of an ICO as measured by the actual amount raised by the offering. Our results are based on a primary dataset of 131 ICOs completed between June 2017 and October 2018. Our results suggest that the use of precise language is positively associated with the amount funded while the use of a concrete language and more numerical terms is negatively associated with the amount funded. This study contributes to the growing literature on ICOs by providing novel insights into the role of the communication strategy adopted by token issuers.

KW - Entrepreneurial finance

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KW - Linguistic styles

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AN - SCOPUS:85118958890

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T3 - Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation

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BT - Exploring innovation in a digital world - cultural and organizational challenges

A2 - Ceci, Federica

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PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH

Y2 - 16 October 2020 through 17 October 2020

ER -

Monaco E, Onesti G, Cruz D, Rosati P. It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it: linguistic styles and ICOs success. In Ceci F, Prencipe A, Spagnoletti P, editors, Exploring innovation in a digital world - cultural and organizational challenges. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. 2021. p. 109-121. (Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation). doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-87842-9_9

It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it: linguistic styles and ICOs success

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

CEGE: Research Center in Management and Economics

Cite this

It’s not only what you say but “how” you say it: linguistic styles and ICOs success

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

CEGE: Research Center in Management and Economics

Cite this