Equity Crowdfunding and the Online Investors’ Risk Perception: A Co-created List of Web Design Guidelines for Optimizing the User Experience

Abstract

Equity crowdfunding is a new venue for businesses in search of investment money. It consists of funding within reach through dedicated online marketplaces, connecting angel investors and startups. It implies investment for partial ownership and is subject to securities and financial regulations. As the practices emerge, we need to better understand investors’ perception of the risk level associated with this type of investment. Our study evaluates how design and interface elements influence these perceptions. An experiment was conducted with potential investors (N = 30), who went through the investment process on a Web prototype mirroring Seedrs.com. Using eyetracking and facial emotion measures, cognitive attention processes were observed and triangulated with investors’ risk perception evaluations. The study identifies semantics and presentation sequence as prohibitive usability issues linked to risk perception.