Emotions and Crowdfunding: The Effect of Emotional Appeals on Benefaction

This study focuses on how emotional appeals affect the success of crowdfunding campaigns. Crowdfunding is an Internet-based fundraising approach where money is raised by a large number of people. This study will look at GoFundMe.com, and the research will focus on the ten categories in which emotional appeals are most prevalent on that platform: Animals, Family, Charity, Community, Medical, Volunteer, Emergencies, Education, Memorials, and Faith. Within each campaign, the type of emotional appeal will be defined based on the type of content