As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly integrates into crowdfunding practices, strategic disclosure of AI involvement has become critical. Yet, empirical insights into how different disclosure strategies influence investor decisions remain limited. Drawing on signaling theory and Aristotle's rhetorical framework, we examine how mandatory AI disclosure affects crowdfunding performance and how substantive signals (degree of AI involvement) and rhetorical signals (logos/explicitness, ethos/authenticity, pathos/emotional tone) moderate these effects. Leveraging Kickstarter's mandatory AI disclosure policy as a natural experiment and four supplementary online experiments, we find that mandatory AI disclosure significantly reduces crowdfunding performance: funds raised decline by 39.8% and backer counts by 23.9% for AI-involved projects. However, this adverse effect is systematically moderated by disclosure strategy. Greater AI involvement amplifies the negative effects of AI disclosure, while high authenticity and high explicitness mitigate them. Interestingly, excessive positive emotional tone (a strategy creators might intuitively adopt to counteract AI skepticism) backfires and exacerbates negative outcomes. Supplementary randomized experiments identify two underlying mechanisms: perceived creator competence and AI washing concerns. Substantive signals primarily affect competence judgments, whereas rhetorical signals operate through varied pathways: either mediator alone or both in sequence. These findings provide theoretical and practical insights for entrepreneurs, platforms, and policymakers strategically managing AI transparency in high-stakes investment contexts.

翻译：随着人工智能日益融入众筹实践，对AI参与度的战略性披露变得至关重要。然而，关于不同披露策略如何影响投资者决策的实证研究仍然有限。借鉴信号理论与亚里士多德的修辞学框架，本研究探讨了强制性AI披露如何影响众筹绩效，以及实质性信号（AI参与程度）与修辞性信号（理性/明确性、信誉/真实性、情感/情绪基调）如何调节这些效应。通过利用Kickstarter的强制性AI披露政策作为自然实验，并结合四项补充性在线实验，我们发现强制性AI披露显著降低了众筹绩效：涉及AI的项目筹资金额下降39.8%，支持者数量减少23.9%。然而，这种负面影响受到披露策略的系统性调节。更高的AI参与度会放大AI披露的负面效应，而高真实性与高明确性能缓解这些效应。有趣的是，过度的积极情绪基调（创作者可能为抵消AI怀疑论而直观采用的策略）会产生反效果，加剧负面结果。补充性随机实验揭示了两个潜在机制：感知的创作者能力与AI洗绿担忧。实质性信号主要通过能力判断产生影响，而修辞性信号则通过不同路径发挥作用：或单独通过某一中介变量，或通过两者的序列作用。这些发现为创业者、平台和决策者在高风险投资情境中战略性管理AI透明度提供了理论与实践启示。