Researchers have found that success really does breed success.
Researchers from UCL and Stony Brook University conducted four experiments that measured the impact of experimental support - such as a donation or positive endorsement - on subsequent success.
In the first experiment, the researchers donated funding to 100 of 200 new, unfunded projects on the crowd-funding website kickstarter.com and monitored the level of later funding. 39 per cent of projects without the initial experimental donation attracted future donations, compared with 70 per cent of those given the experimental donation - almost two times more.
The second experiment involved the website epinions.com, for which reviewers are paid for evaluations of new products according to how helpful website visitors rate their reviews. 90 per cent of reviews which received experimental endorsement were rated as 'very helpful' within two weeks of treatment, compared to 77 per cent in the sample without the initial boost.
In the third test, a random subset of the top 1 per cent most productive editors on the website Wikipedia.org were conferred an award. During the observation period of five months, 31 per cent of the editors without this start received a status award, whereas 40 per cent of those given an initial status award attracted at least one more other award.
The fourth test used the petition website change.org, where people seek support from the general public for social and political goals through electronic signature campaigns. The researchers reviewed 200 early-stage campaigns and granted a dozen signatures to 100 campaigns chosen at random. They found that 52 per cent of individuals who did not benefit from the signature package received at least one more signature, compared with 66 per cent of those given an extra 12 signatures for the experiment.