Crowdlending decisions for sustainable new ventures: The role of underlying human values in explaining the heterogeneity of crowd investor preferences

Crowdlending for sustainable new ventures is situated between traditional investing and thereby attracting non-professional investors with different motivations. However, the current these different motivations related to crowdlending decisions is limited. Drawing on the theory values, the present article addresses the question of whether and how crowd investors differ that drive their crowdlending decisions for sustainable new ventures. Using a choice-based followed by a latent class analysis, this study explores the preferences of 353 non-professional response to project attributes associated with loan characteristics and sustainability impact reveal four crowd investor segments with heterogeneous preference structures and highlight values to identify such segments. While the majority of crowd investors form their decisions return rates, the segment of crowd investors characterized by high self-transcendence and low values focuses primarily on ecological impact goals. Surprisingly, crowd investors who ecological impact goals are characterized by high self-enhancement values and thus appear self-interest. These insights are significant for sustainable entrepreneurs and platforms, helping address the diverse audience in crowdlending.