Research Survey Distribution during the Pandemic: The ECF Platform Provider as an Authority of the Sender and using a Plea for Help

Abstract

The research follows the quantitative method in which data was collected using the survey instruments distributed among the key informants in an organization. The key informant refers to the decision-maker of the firms that successfully secure funding via equity crowdfunding from the year 2016-2019. The key informants include the founder, co-founder, director, chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), and chief operating officer (COO). Also, they include other designated posts which hold the responsibility as a decision-maker of the firm with the appropriate knowledge to respond to the survey questions. The study's purpose is to increase the number of survey responders. 231 surveys were distributed to 77 MSMEs. Due to the pandemic, the government come out with the movement control order (MCO) where work from home (WFH) has been introduced. As such, the approach to distributing the survey questionnaires also changes. Instead of using the hardcopy and face to face approach, the google form has been used. In order to ensure that the survey reached the respondents, this study used "authority of sender” (AOS) representing the ECF platforms and "plea for help” (PLEA) approaches. The response rate increased from 0.02% (5 respondents) to 43.72% (101 respondents). Since the study examines the firm performance, out of 101 respondents, only 92 met the required criteria. The data answers the research questions and addresses the objectives to investigate the Equity crowdfunding (ECF) funded firms in Malaysia. Researchers in Malaysia should use the AOS and PLEA, especially in the area where the existence of AOS and PLEA would increase the respondents’ participation and completion of the distributed surveys.