The effect of charismatic signalling on potential investor decisions

Dr Allan Lee, Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter Business School discusses the effect of charismatic signalling on potential investor decisions.

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Abstract:  

Without an established track record, early-stage entrepreneurs regularly pitch their ideas to potential investors in a bid to convince them to provide financial backing. In these pitch presentations, investors listen to entrepreneurs formally present their products, services, or other business concepts, along with their funding needs and terms. The current research focuses on angel investors; individuals who invest in new, young, high-growth potential ventures at the very early stages using their own money and providing critical financial and sometimes managerial support. In the current research, we explore whether charismatic signalling (i.e., the use of verbal and nonverbal behaviours to communicate emotions, symbols and values, Antonakis, Bastardoz, Jacquart, & Shamir, 2016) impacts whether angel investors choose to invest in entrepreneurs. We test this idea with data from 500 entrepreneur pitch presentations to investors on the Shark Tank television program. Overall, we find that charisma influences angel investor decisions after controlling for factors expected to influence investment decisions. Overall, we find that charisma influences angel investor decisions after controlling for factors expected to influence investment decisions 

About the speaker: 

Dr Allan Lee is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter Business School. Before working at Exeter, he was at Alliance Manchester Business School. He received his PhD from Aston Business School in 2016. Allan’s research focuses on Leadership and particularly the relationship between leaders and their followers. His research has appeared in journals such as Journal of Management, Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Personnel Psychology and Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 

Please contact Dr Chiahuei Wu c.wu4@leeds.ac.uk if you have any queries.