Mass media plays a key role in shaping people's expectations and economic behavior. In crowdfunding campaigns, where people support campaigns dedicated to funding projects, in exchange for non-financial rewards, the tone of the news can influence investment decisions. Thus, the researcher at the School of Business Administration of São Paulo (FGV EAESP), Wesley Mendes da Silva led a study with 3 other universities that explores how market sentiment, reflected in the tone of mass media news, affects the financial promises made by supporters in reward crowdfunding campaigns in Brazil.

The research analyzed more than 350,000 promises made in 3,600 reward crowdfunding campaigns hosted on the Catarse platform, covering 2,631 of more than 5,500 Brazilian cities. Using Natural Language Processing (NLP), the tone of the news was classified daily from 1,266 headlines in the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo and posts on social media, such as X (formerly Twitter). The regression model used measured the impact of the tone of the media on the value of capital contributions. In addition, the researchers took into account variables such as the geographical distance between the entrepreneur and the supporter and income inequality in the cities.

However, news with a negative tone reduces the willingness of supporters to make more generous capital contributions. The analysis also points out that the geographical distance between the supporter and the entrepreneur negatively affects the amount of the contribution. Therefore, there is a presence of a "domestic bias", where supporters tend to invest more in campaigns closer to their own location.

In addition, the study showed that income inequality in the cities of the supporters reinforces the impact of good news. In cities with greater inequality, supporters tend to make bigger promises. Supporters are possibly motivated by the perception that crowdfunding can help reduce social inequalities. This suggests that the interplay between social factors and market sentiment can significantly influence the outcomes of crowdfunding campaigns.

These findings offer insights for entrepreneurs and managers of crowdfunding platforms. By understanding how the tone of the news affects supporters' behavior, they can adjust their marketing and communication strategies to optimize campaign results. Moreover, against a backdrop of rising income inequality, crowdfunding can emerge as an effective tool for raising funds in areas with greater inequalities, when combined with positive market sentiment.

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