[Objective] This study aims to explore the key factors that influence the investment decision-making behavior of users according to the text characteristics of project description in rewarded crowdfunding from the perspective of emotional distance.

[Methods] By applying psychological distance theory, text emotional distance and its three dimensions are defined. The measurement index of the text emotional distance is developed by using text analysis methods. An econometric model to investigate the influence of text emotional distance on user's investment decision is constructed, and an empirical analysis with 161279 projects text in Kickstarter is conducted.

[Results] The findings demonstrate that positive emotional tendency, affinity and interactivity of the text have significant positive effect on the user's investment decision. Negative emotional tendency of the text has significant negative effect on investors' decision-making. Also, there are significant differences in the impact of text emotional distance on users' investment decision-making behavior under different project categories.

[Limitations] This study focuses on the rewarded crowdfunding; the conclusions may not be applied to other forms of crowdfunding. Also, the qualitative research on text language in psychology and sociology is limited in technical aspects.

[Conclusions] The funders of rewarded crowdfunding should focus on emotional expression in project description by showing positive emotional tendency and affinity in the text. For different types of projects, emotional expression should have different degrees of emphasis, which is conducive to improve the project financing rate.