The rise of crowdlending enables small firms to borrow capital where transaction costs are reduced and financial accessibility is improved. Crowdlending platforms require lenders to depend solely on the information provided by its borrowers. Such information reliance could impact lenders’ financial behavior and investment decision and return. In this study, we develop a model to understand what elements and factors influence the formation of trust in crowdlending. Our results suggest that lenders are likely to pay more attention to platform quality and risk mitigation strategy than attractive loan cues. Our findings can aid the crowdlending industry in growing its investor base and increasing potential customers’ access to capital. These findings could also assist in developing regulatory guidelines in the crowdlending market.

众筹的兴起使小企业能够借入资金，从而降低交易成本并提高金融可及性。众筹平台要求贷方完全依赖借款人提供的信息。这种信息依赖可能会影响贷方的财务行为以及投资决策和回报。在这项研究中，我们开发了一个模型来了解哪些因素会影响众筹中信任的形成。我们的结果表明，贷款人可能会更加关注平台质量和风险缓解策略，而不是有吸引力的贷款线索。我们的发现可以帮助众筹行业扩大其投资者基础并增加潜在客户获得资金的机会。这些发现还有助于制定众筹市场的监管指南。