Investigating potential backers’ reactions to fundraiser misconduct in crowdfunding: a psychological reactance perspective

Why broken promises online matter to all of us

Crowdfunding lets ordinary people chip in small amounts of money to support new products, charities, or neighbors in need. But when a fundraiser misuses that money, backers often feel more than simple disappointment—they feel that their freedom to give and to trust has been violated. This study asks a timely question: what exactly happens in people’s minds and emotions when they learn that a crowdfunding organizer has behaved badly, and how does that inner reaction turn into public backlash that can ripple across entire platforms?

When the crowd turns sour

The authors start by looking at the special nature of crowdfunding. Unlike traditional finance, backers are volunteers: they choose projects, give freely, and act as informal "voters" on which ideas deserve support. That freedom depends heavily on trust. Misconduct—such as fake claims, misuse of funds, or flashy displays of sudden wealth—does not just break promises; it can shake people’s belief that their choice to donate was truly their own. The paper argues that this creates a powerful sense of threat: if fundraisers can secretly twist the deal, then a backer’s freedom to support honest projects begins to feel compromised.

From threat to inner resistance

To understand this response, the study draws on a psychological idea called reactance, which describes what happens when people feel their freedom is being taken away. When a freedom is threatened, people often feel anger and irritation, think more harshly about the source of the threat, and look for ways to restore control. The authors adapt a model that treats thought and feeling as tightly linked parts of a single reaction. In this view, a backer’s emotional surge (anger, disappointment, hostility) and their critical thoughts (seeing the fundraiser as unethical or untrustworthy) are not separate steps, but two sides of the same inner pushback.

Measuring how backers push back

To test these ideas, the researchers surveyed 339 adults in China using a detailed online questionnaire built around a realistic, misconduct-laden crowdfunding scenario inspired by a real case. All respondents read about the same fictional project: a commercial campaign where the organizer was described as misusing funds and flaunting wealth. The survey measured two starting conditions: how sensitive each person tends to be about threats to their freedom, and how severe they thought the fundraiser’s misconduct was. It then assessed their emotional reactions, critical thoughts, attitudes toward the fundraiser and project, and the actions they would be inclined to take—such as withdrawing support, backing alternative projects, or warning others. The team used a statistical technique designed to handle complex, layered psychological concepts to map how these pieces fit together.

From inner revolt to public backlash

The results reveal a clear chain. First, people strongly believed they had the freedom to donate in public crowdfunding, and they saw misconduct as a serious threat to that freedom. This combination triggered a high level of psychological reactance: backers reported intense negative feelings and sharply critical thoughts about the fundraiser. Those inner reactions, in turn, fed into hostile attitudes toward the project and more favorable attitudes toward alternative campaigns. Finally, these attitudes translated into action-oriented intentions: refusing to donate, shifting money elsewhere, and encouraging other potential backers to do the same. Importantly, the study shows that this psychological reactance sits at the center of the process, acting as the main link between noticing misconduct and deciding to resist and mobilize others.

What this means for the future of crowdfunding

In plain terms, the study concludes that fundraising misconduct does more than hurt one project—it activates a deep sense of violated freedom that can quickly spread through a community. Once backers feel their ability to support trustworthy causes has been compromised, they become motivated not only to protect themselves but also to steer others away from the offending campaign. For platforms and organizers, this means that transparency, honesty, and visible safeguards are not just nice extras; they are essential to preventing a powerful wave of psychological resistance that can damage trust in crowdfunding as a whole.

Citation: He, H.R., Liang, H., Yu, X. et al. Investigating potential backers’ reactions to fundraiser misconduct in crowdfunding: a psychological reactance perspective. Sci Rep 16, 11315 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41380-y

Keywords: crowdfunding, online trust, donor behavior, fundraising ethics, psychological reactance