Digital platforms, as designed marketplaces governed by the platform owner, can address inefficiencies and information asymmetry problems that affect traditional markets, enhancing value-creation opportunities. However, platform governance may also introduce market distortions by directing users’ attention to few, selected offerings, leading to greater market concentration. In the context of a crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter, we examine how selective promotions of specific entrepreneurial projects, featured as "projects we love", influence the success of the "loved" project and of other projects in the platform. We find that there is a strong "love effect": selected projects capture a disproportionate amount of funds; yet, the effect is attenuated the higher the ratio of "loved" projects in the respective project category. "Love" is thus good if rare.
