Crowdfunding Campaigns Research Articles

Who can claim innovation and benefit from it? Gender and expectancy violations in reward‐based crowdfunding

AbstractResearch SummaryAlthough reward‐based crowdfunding is lauded for its promise to democratize funding for innovation, claiming innovation in campaign texts has an ambiguous link to crowdfunding performance. We draw from Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) and, in a field study of 2,185 Kickstarter campaigns, find that innovation claims yield better fundraising performance for women than men, particularly in male‐stereotyped categories. An experiment did not identify the expected indirect effects of innovation claims on crowdfunding performance through ability trustworthiness. However, it revealed that women are perceived as more able when launching campaigns in male‐stereotyped categories, suggesting that EVT and ability perceptions may still play an important but unhypothesized role. We extend research on the role of gender in crowdfunding and strategic entrepreneurship and make several suggestions for future research.Managerial SummaryThe value of making innovation claims in reward‐based crowdfunding is ambiguous, creating an unclear picture of how entrepreneurs should present new products on these platforms. In a field study of 2,185 Kickstarter campaigns, we show that female entrepreneurs benefit more from making innovation claims than their male peers, especially in male‐dominated categories. While we suggested that these effects occur due to differences in backers' perceptions of the entrepreneur's ability, this mechanism was not supported in an experiment. However, we found that women are perceived as more able when launching crowdfunding campaigns in male‐dominated industry categories. Taken together, our research suggests that in reward‐based crowdfunding, women might benefit from violating gender expectations when backers view these violations as either positive or ambiguous.

A Study of Donation-Based Crowd Funding Platforms

Persuasion is the process of communication in which a person wants to create an influence to induce certain behaviour sends a persuasive message to the other individual with the aim of generating an impact on the recipient's attitude. The power of decision making, however, is at the disposal of the recipient. Various technologies are used by the donation based crowd funding platforms to persuade the website visitors to make donations for certain causes. The main objective of the study was to focus on the specific factors that are used by the donation based crowd funding platforms to persuade the prospective donors to make donations to specific campaigns. Exploration methods were used to obtain the necessary data through online questionnaires. The questionnaire mainly included close ended questions where most of the questions were designed for the people who have donated using crowd funding platforms to react on a Likert scale of 5 (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree). Total sample size was 230. Simple Random Sampling method was used to collect the data. The researcher has explained a model where building a new concept in the set of factors that are specifically applicable for the donors who contribute for donation based crowd funding campaigns. The model shows that using technology in persuasion and having a higher social networking presence can affect the donation intention of the website visitors to a considerable extent. The model also shows that various privacy issues, trust and overall website quality also have a major impact on the donation intention of the donors. In the end, the study also shows that the donation intention of the donors is highly positively correlated with the donation behaviour.

Childcare crowdfunding campaigns aim to keep mums on the academic track.

Childcare crowdfunding campaigns aim to keep mums on the academic track.

Butyrylcholinesterase is a potential biomarker for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

SummaryBackgroundAutonomic dysfunction has been implicated in the pathophysiology of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is an enzyme of the cholinergic system, a major branch of the autonomic system, and may provide a measure of autonomic (dys)function. This study was undertaken to evaluate BChE activity in infants and young children who had died from Sudden Infant Death or Sudden Unexpected Death.MethodsIn this case-control study we measured BChE activity and total protein in the eluate of 5μL spots punched from the dried blood spots taken at birth as part of the newborn screening program. Results for each of 67 sudden unexpected deaths classified by the coroner (aged 1 week-104 weeks) = Cases, were compared to 10 date of birth - and gender-matched surviving controls (Controls), with five cases reclassified to meet criteria for SIDS, including the criterion of age 3 weeks to 1 year.FindingsConditional logistic regression showed that in groups where cases were reported as “SIDS death” there was strong evidence that lower BChE specific activity (BChEsa) was associated with death (OR=0·73 per U/mg, 95% CI 0·60-0·89, P=0·0014), whereas in groups with a “Non-SIDS death” as the case there was no evidence of a linear association between BChEsa and death (OR=1·001 per U/mg, 95% CI 0·89-1·13, P=0·99).InterpretationBChEsa, measured in dried blood spots taken 2-3 days after birth, was lower in babies who subsequently died of SIDS compared to surviving controls and other Non-SIDS deaths. We conclude that a previously unidentified cholinergic deficit, identifiable by abnormal -BChEsa, is present at birth in SIDS babies and represents a measurable, specific vulnerability prior to their death.FundingAll funding provided by a crowd funding campaign https://www.mycause.com.au/p/184401/damiens-legacy

Crowdfunding campaigns for paediatric patients: A cross-sectional analysis of success determinants.

BackgroundWe aimed to identify factors of success in medical crowdfunding campaigns on the largest Polish platform: siepomaga.pl.Material and methodsAll campaigns initialised by patients in the years 2009–2017 were included. The data comprised characteristics of the collections: financial target, raised sum, aim, type of disease, Facebook shares, age category, and the exact collection period. Campaign success was defined as collecting the target sum. Emotional expression on the main photograph was analysed using the Azure Cognitive Service. Logistic regression analysis was performed.ResultsFrom a total of 2,656 collections, 1,725 (65%) were successful and 42.4 million EUR were raised in total. 2,024 (76.2%) of campaigns were dedicated to children. Successful collections not only received more donations, but were also supported, on average, with larger payments. Fortunate campaigns asked for less money and ended earlier (all p < 0.001). The odds of success were increased by: at least 50 Facebook shares (OR, 95% CI: 1.75, 1.46–2.10), the receiver being a child (1.46, 1.18–1.80), aim: dream come true (1.53, 1.06-2.20) or suffering from a congenital disease (1.34, 1.08–1.67), whereas financial target of no less than 4000 EUR (0.41, 0.34–0.52), aim: rehabilitation (0.51, 0.41-0.64), psychiatric disease (0.52, 0.38–0.71), and maladies of the eye or the ear (0.56, 0.39–0.81) were associated with campaign failure. After adjustment, dominance of happiness on the main photograph decreased the odds of success (0.71, 0.59–0.86).ConclusionYounger age, lower financial goal, greater exposure on Facebook, aim, disease and emotional expression were associated with success of medical crowdfunding.

Sustainable business models as successful drivers in equity crowdfunding

AbstractEquity crowdfunding is a form of capital market concerning the online offering of private company securities to a group of people for investment. Over the years, it has emerged as a valid financing alternative for sustainability‐oriented startups to conventional sources of funding to support their establishment and growth. This research explores the role that the elements of sustainable business models (SBM), which creates, delivers, and captures value for all its stakeholders without depleting the natural, economic, and social resources it relies on, can play as success discriminants of equity crowdfunding campaigns. A configuration approach was selected, and Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) was used to investigate the causal configurations of 33 crowdfunding campaigns posted on the six most popular Italian equity crowdfunding platforms from 2014 to 2020. The analysis revealed that the SBM elements, and combinations of them, can positively affect the outcome of a campaign. Results also show that negative outcomes may be primarily due to campaign‐related features, such as high minimum investment requirements and high funding target.

Got ink, get paid? Exploring the impact of tattoo visibility on crowdfunding performance

Tattoos reflect an increasingly popular form of creative self-expression and there is an increased prevalence of tattoos among entrepreneurs engaging in crowdfunding. As such, our study is the first to explore how visible displays of tattoos within crowdfunding campaigns relate to campaign performance. Using a creativity perspective, we examine how displaying tattoos differentially impacts two key measures of crowdfunding performance: numbers of backers and funds pledged. We analyze a sample of 1500 crowdfunding campaigns from Kickstarter, and find a positive relationship between visible displays of tattoos and crowdfunding performance. We move the conversation regarding the impact of body art beyond non-entrepreneurial contexts by providing evidence that tattoo visibility does not hinder an entrepreneur's efforts to raise funds for their venture.

GoFundMe as a Medical Plan: Ecological Study of Crowdfunding Insulin Success.

BackgroundIndividuals in need of medical care turn to crowdfunding websites to engage a “crowd” or group for financial support. In the last decade, access to insulin has decreased considerably for several reasons, including the rising cost of insulin, increasing popularity of high-deductible insurance plans, and increasing insurance premiums. Many people with diabetes are forced to ration or go without insulin, and they turn to crowdfunding websites to seek financial donations to purchase insulin needed to reduce health risks and mortality, and sustain quality of life. ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore crowdfunding campaign requests to purchase insulin in the United States.MethodsIn this retrospective, quantitative, and qualitative study, we coded the text of GoFundMe online crowdfunding campaigns and viral measures (shares, hearts, and comments) from February 25 to April 15, 2019. We described campaigns (N=205) and explored the factors associated with campaign success using correlations and qualitative thematic analysis.ResultsThe majority of campaigns were initiated by middle-aged adults (age 26-64 years; 77/205, 37.6%), those with type 1 diabetes (94/205, 45.9%), and those needing funds owing to insurance coverage issues (125/205, 61.0%). The factors associated with campaign success included requests for ≤US $500 (P=.007) and higher viral measures (shares, P=.007; hearts, P<.001; comments, P=.002). The following 4 themes emerged from the campaign text: (1) desire for self-management and survival, (2) diabetes management untenable given insulin access, (3) aftermath of insulin unaffordability, and (4) privacy issues with crowdfunding. Campaign comments were both supportive (tangible, informational, and emotional) and unsupportive (questioned the need for the campaign and deemed crowdfunding inappropriate).ConclusionsDespite crowdfunding websites being used to support the purchase of insulin, campaigns raised only a fraction of the money requested. Therefore, GoFundMe campaigns are not a reliable solution to obtain funds for insulin in the United States. Applying quantitative and qualitative methods is adequate to analyze online crowdfunding for costs of medications such as insulin. However, it is critical for people with diabetes to use resources other than online crowdfunding to access and obtain insulin owing to low success rates. Clinicians should routinely assess difficulty accessing or affording insulin, and federal health care policies should support lowering the cost of insulin.

How the tone of mass media news affects pledge amounts in reward crowdfunding campaigns

ABSTRACT We study whether the tone of daily news in mass media as a proxy for market sentiment affects the typical daily pledge amount in reward crowdfunding campaigns. Based on unique data for over 350,000 pledges in reward crowdfunding campaigns from over 2,600 cities in Brazil, we find that market sentiment affects the willingness of backers to make larger pledges. Our unprecedented results reveal that good news induces larger pledges. The effect of tone on pledge amounts is inhibited by the geographic distance between the backer and entrepreneur and is reinforced by income inequality in the backer’s city.

Digital identities of female founders and crowdfunding performance: an exploration based on the LDA topic model

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate female founders’ digital identities (i.e. the founder’s online self-representation) and explore how female founders’ digital identities affect crowdfunding performance.Design/methodology/approachLeveraging a data set of 3,125 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns launched by women between 2014 and 2019, this study uses the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic model to investigate female founders’ digital identities and explore their impacts on crowdfunding performance via logistic and Tobit regression analyses.FindingsThis study finds that on crowdfunding platforms, female founders display four main types of digital identities: educational practitioner, experienced entrepreneur, creative innovator and life dreamer. Moreover, our results reveal the differential influences of these identities on crowdfunding performance. Specifically, the experienced entrepreneur or educational practitioner portrayal may benefit fundraising; the life dreamer portrayal may hinder it; and the creative innovator portrayal may have no significant effect.Practical implicationsThis study suggests how women can use their digital identities to improve their crowdfunding performance, indicating a fruitful way to overcome female entrepreneurial financing hurdles in the digital age.Originality/valueThis study highlights the digital identities of female founders engaged in crowdfunding, enriching the emerging research on digital identity in entrepreneurship and crowdfunding. Furthermore, the application of the LDA topic model in the study enlightens future research on leveraging big data analytic methods to examine female entrepreneurship in the digital economy context.

COVID-19 and entrepreneurial processes in US equity crowdfunding

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a shift in entrepreneurial opportunities in the United States. In this paper, we proxy entrepreneurial processes by examining housing prices in different regions of the United States. Housing prices capture the movement in people, tax dynamics, and behavioral preferences for equity ownership in different regions and over time, all of which were drastically impacted by COVID-19. We examine all US equity crowdfunding offerings starting with the very first offerings in 2016 Q2 until 2021 Q1 based on data from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The data indicate that regional housing prices post-COVID-19 are a strong predictor of the number of equity crowdfunding campaigns and the amount of capital raised. Moreover, the impact of housing price changes on crowdfunding is more pronounced among more prosperous regions. The housing price effect is robust to numerous controls and consideration of outliers.

How to Engage the Crowds to Create Value? Evidence from the Pathfinder Arena Case

Reward-based crowdfunding has emerged in recent years as an interesting channel business that can leverage to obtain new financial resources outside the traditional ones. In this study, we explore how the creators of a reward-based crowdfunding campaign have engaged the crowd to create value and co-create knowledge to reduce both financial and market risks. Accordingly, we analyze the case study of the Kickstarter Campaign for Pathfinder Arena, a board game created by Giochi Uniti, an Italian Gaming Company. Through the lens of the social identity theory, we show that backers can generate the feedback processes needed to improve the product, when they want to belong in a community and when they want to interact with the creators. This research could have important implications for both researchers and future creators of reward-based crowdfunding projects, showing them the way to implement some instrument for involving the crowd to generate value.

Predicting the Entrepreneurial Success of Crowdfunding Campaigns Using Model-Based Machine Learning Methods

A common phenomenon that increasingly stimulates the interest of investors, companies, and entrepreneurs involved in crowd funding activities particularly on the Kickstarter website is identifying metrics that make such campaigns markedly successful. This study seeks to gauge the importance of key predictive variables or features based on statistical analysis, identify model-based machine learning methods based on performance assessment that predict success of a campaigns, and compare the selected different machine learning algorithms. To achieve our research objectives and maximize insight into the dataset used, feature engineering was performed. Then, machine learning models, inclusive of Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machines (SVMs) in the form of Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (QDA), and random forest analysis (bagging and boosting), were performed and compared via cross validation approaches in terms of their resulting test error rates, F1 score, Accuracy, Precision, and Recall rates. Of the machine learning models employed for predictive analysis, the test error rates and the other classification metric scores obtained across the three cross-validation approaches identified bagging and gradient boosting (the SVMs) as more robust methods for predicting success of Kickstarter projects. The major research objectives in this paper have been achieved by accessing the performance of key statistical learning methods that guides the choice of learning methods or models and giving us a measure of the quality of the ultimately chosen model. However, Bayesian semi-parametric approaches are of future research consideration. These methods facilitate the usage of an infinite number of parameters to capture information regarding the underlying distributions of even more complex data.

Bias‐driven marketing that instigates pledging to a crowdfunding campaign: An experimental consideration of behavioral anomalies

AbstractBias‐driven marketing leverages the behavioral biases of investors for greater marketing gains. To transform cognitively biased individuals from antagonists into allies, the marketers need to decipher the critical crowdfunding attributes, which ultimately motivate behaviorally biased crowdfunders to invest in crowdfunding campaigns. Hence, this study seeks to investigate the influential factors concerning four behavioral biases that accelerate crowdfunding adoption. A conceptual model, parameterized using conjoint analysis, is developed and administered in an agent‐based behavior model to effectively determine the influential crowdfunding attributes, which will induce the biased investors to adopt crowdfunding. The results revealed that status quo biased individuals adopted the crowdfunding campaign when launched by well‐known and reputed fund raisers. Whereas, hyperbolic discounting bias accelerated the adoption when the campaign reached more than 75% of subscription and duration was lesser than 30 days. The results also indicated that framing bias enhanced the adoption when the risk inherent in the project is disclosed. Finally, the results also claimed that individuals liable to loss aversion bias expected a known funder, who posts frequent updates and preferred the All‐or‐Nothing crowdfunding model. The experimental results of the study provide insights to the marketers that crowdfunding campaigns can be successfully strategized through the exploration of underlying cognitive biases and the corresponding motivational cues that accentuate the pledging behavior of the funders. Given the importance of an effective marketing strategy in crowdfunding adoption, this study offers one such recommendation to the crowdfunding campaigners by demonstrating how bias driven marketing strategy enhances the adoption rate of the campaigns. With the strong pieces of evidence obtained from this study, it is anticipated that behavioral biases, drawn from the neuromarketing theory, will no longer be viewed as cognitive errors from the investor's perspective. Rather, it will be viewed as a boon from the marketer's perspective as the bias‐based marketing strategies have the potential to achieve a fully subscribed crowdfunding campaign.

Success Factors of Medical Crowdfunding Campaigns: Systematic Review.

BackgroundMedical crowdfunding provides opportunities for individuals who lack financial resources to access the health services that they need. Despite the popularity of medical crowdfunding, the current understanding of the success of medical crowdfunding campaigns is fragmented and inadequate.ObjectiveWe aimed to comprehensively investigate which factors lead to the success of medical crowdfunding campaigns.MethodsA search was conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ACM Digital Library, and ScienceDirect from 2010 to June 2020. Papers directly and indirectly related to the success of medical crowdfunding campaigns were included. Two reviewers independently extracted information on the success of medical crowdfunding campaigns.ResultsOur search yielded 441 articles, of which 13 met the inclusion criteria. Medical crowdfunding is increasingly attracting academic attention, and most studies leverage text analysis as their research methods; however, there is a lack of consensus on the definition of medical crowdfunding among researchers. Four categories of factors that affect the success of medical crowdfunding were identified: platforms, raisers, donors, and campaigns.ConclusionsAlthough some limitations exist in our systematic review, our study captured and mapped literatures of the success of medical crowdfunding campaigns systematically, which can be used as the basis for future research on this topic.

For love or money? The effect of deadline proximity on completion contributions in online crowdfunding

Purpose The authors investigate whether the individual “completion contributions” that enable online crowdfunding campaigns to meet or exceed their targets tend to be larger in relative terms when made nearer to the funding deadline. As these contributions are likely to have a disproportionate impact upon campaign outcomes, the authors assess whether the investment patterns they observe are consistent with the theory of impact philanthropy.Design/methodology/approach The authors use campaign-level data incorporating observations on campaigns from reward (both all-or-nothing, AoN and keep-it-all, KiA), donation and equity-based platforms. To the knowledge of the authors, the coverage of the data is unparalleled elsewhere in the crowdfunding literature. Using these data, the authors analyze whether completion contributions tend to vary contingent upon both the proximity of the deadline and form of crowdfunding.Findings The authors find that completion contributions tend to vary significantly and positively with proximity to funding deadlines. The authors also find that this relationship tends to be more pronounced among AoN than for KiA campaigns, as well as for donation-based platforms compared with equity-based platforms. Altogether, the patterns of behavior observed are consistent with the theory of impact philanthropy.Originality/valueThe authors help develop a better understanding of the behaviors of contributors to online crowdfunding campaigns and whether those behaviors are consistent with altruistic motivations. The findings also have considerable value in understanding the non-financial factors associated with the informal financing of business startups.

Persuasive Reasons in Crowdfunding Campaigns: Comparing Argumentative Strategies in Successful and Unsuccessful Projects on Kickstarter

Persuasive Reasons in Crowdfunding Campaigns: Comparing Argumentative Strategies in Successful and Unsuccessful Projects on Kickstarter

Discrimination in post-conflict settings: Experimental evidence from Colombia

After a civil war, community support for the reintegration of ex-combatants is crucial for peace-building. Using a crowdfunding campaign to promote trainees’ business ideas, we investigate whether university students discriminate against ex-combatants in Colombia. Our results show that there is no discrimination against ex-combatants in terms of donations compared with other trainees, but there is a substantial degree of prejudice and skepticism. This finding suggests that the reintegration of ex-combatants might be affected by the NIMBY phenomena. Although willing to economically support the peace process, individuals are skeptical towards personal encounters with ex-combatants. This suggest that to achieve sustainable peace, policies should focus on decreasing stigmatization towards ex-combatants.

“It Makes Everything Just Another Story”: A Mixed Methods Study of Medical Storytelling on GoFundMe

ABSTRACT This article reports on a study of 65 randomly sampled medical crowdfunding campaigns and five interviews with campaign authors. We found that authors innovated technical and professional communication (TPC) tools to narrate their illness experiences, coordinate digital audiences, and compel action. Thus, these authors practice TPC as care seeking and caregiving. Crowdfunding platforms, however, situate authors to individualize structural problems in ways that preempt collective action. We conclude with pedagogical implications of our findings.

When fashion meets crowdfunding: exploring sustainable and innovative features of online campaigns

PurposeThis paper analyses the factors that make fashion-product crowdfunding campaigns successful. The authors argue that crowdfunding is an innovative and functional way of bringing new fashion items to the market. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question whether product innovation, lifecycle and sustainability have a positive effect on the success of fashion crowdfunding campaigns. The findings highlight that the success of the fashion crowdfunding campaigns depends on creators' adherence to the values of the platform which they use to raise capital.Design/methodology/approachA total of 300 fashion crowdfunding projects running between the 17th of October and the 15th of December 2017 were collected from Kickstarter – the world's largest crowdfunding platform based on reward-based all-or-nothing model. Two-step binomial logistic regression was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe model predicted a significant increase in the odds of success for the fashion items crowdfunded during the first-time production, and innovative and environmentally sustainable products with a higher price range of rewards. In line with previous literature, regression analyses predicted a significant effect of the control variables of goal amount (negative) and the number of rewards (positive). Contrary to previous studies, neither the presence of a video nor the campaign length predicted success.Originality/valueThe novel findings of this study contribute to the literature by providing an analysis of success factors of fashion items on crowdfunding platforms. The results show that innovative, environmentally sustainable and higher-priced products produced by early-stage ventures are better welcomed by the audiences.