Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Mar 20, 2024
Date Accepted: Jul 25, 2024
Unveiling the Impact of Image Content on Online Medical Crowdfunding Success
ABSTRACT
Background:
As crowdfunding sites proliferate, visual content often serves as the initial bridge connecting a project to its potential backers, underscoring the importance of image selection in effectively engaging an audience.
Objective:
This paper aims to explore the relationship between images and crowdfunding success in cancer-related crowdfunding projects.
Methods:
We used the AliCloud platform to detect individual features in images. In addition, we used the Recognize Anything model to label images and obtain content tags. Furthermore, the Discourse Atomic Topic model was used to generate image topics. After obtaining the image features and image content topics, we built regression models to investigate the factors that influence the results of crowdfunding success.
Results:
Images with a higher proportion of young people (β=0.0753, P<.001), a larger number of people (β=0.00822, P<.001), and a larger proportion of smiley faces (β=0.0446, P<.001) had a higher success rate. Image content related to good things and patient health may also contribute to crowdfunding success (β=0.082, P<.001; β=0.036, P<.001). In addition, the interaction between image themes and image characteristics has a significant effect on the final fundraising outcome. For example, When the smiley is considered in conjunction with the image theme, using more smileys in the rest and play theme will increase the amount of money raised (β=0.0152, P<.001).
Conclusions:
In the realm of online medical crowdfunding, the importance of uploaded images cannot be overstated. Image characteristics, including the number of people depicted and the presence of youth, significantly improve fundraising results. In addition, the thematic choice of images in cancer crowdfunding efforts has a profound impact. Images that evoke beauty and resonate with health issues are more likely to result in increased donations. However, it is critical to recognize that reinforcing character traits in images of different themes has different effects on the success of crowdfunding campaigns. Clinical Trial: N/A
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