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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which rewards-based crowdfunding really does provide financial support for start-ups and small businesses relative to other types of activity such as creative and cultural projects.

The paper reports findings from a series of multiple regression on a unique data set covering around 205,000 rewards-based crowdfunding projects across a number of leading platforms in the USA, the UK and Canada.

The authors report two main findings. First, rewards-based crowdfunding is highly inequitably distributed and that success is concentrated within a relatively small number of platforms and campaigns. Second, crowdfunding campaigns explicitly related to business perform relatively poorly compared with those in other categories; particularly those in creative areas such as music and dance.

These findings call into question the extent to which rewards-based crowdfunding really is a means by which significant numbers of start-ups can bridge gaps in the provision of finance.

This study examines how individual contributors' evaluation of the two aspects in reward-based crowdfunding—service and community—influences the formation of platform loyalty. It also seeks to determine the conditions under which the evaluation is positive.

We collaborated for data collection with two reward-based crowdfunding platforms in South Korea that primarily promote crowdfunding campaigns in the creative domains. We combined the survey data collected from 578 contributors and campaign data from the platforms, empirically examining the formation of platform loyalty and its antecedents.

The results suggest that service satisfaction with a platform and a sense of belonging to it are positively associated with platform loyalty. We also found that an individual contributor's self-image congruence with the crowdfunding platform is positively associated with service satisfaction and a sense of belonging, while the experience of greater campaign success moderates the relationship in different ways.

This study contributes to the crowdfunding literature by establishing a theoretical background for understanding reward-based crowdfunding platforms, which combine service and community. It also extends the scope of the literature on crowdfunding by examining the role of platform loyalty at the platform level.

The results suggest that service and community are both critical for building a sustainable crowdfunding platform. Platform operators are expected to provide high-quality services and foster a sense of community. Identifying and developing contributors with higher self-image congruence with the platforms is essential.

While previous literature on reward-based crowdfunding has focused on individual contributor- and campaign-level analyses, platform-level knowledge is lacking. This study is among the first to focus on platform loyalty of individual contributors toward reward-based crowdfunding platforms. Moreover, we use both individual-level perception and campaign-level performance variables to examine the formation of platform loyalty.

Tracking trends in new technology funding patterns is essential for venture scaling. The emerging advanced digital technologies (ADT) such as virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and Internet-of-things (IoT) promote business innovation adaptations, and in turn, reshape the industrial landscape. To attract nascent funding for such prospective projects among the public, well-articulated project pitches that are equipped with effective marketing communication convey the projects' importance and marketability. Specifically, when the entrepreneurs and the crowdfunding platform users interact via different types of crowdfunding platforms, pitch framing, including the signaling of ADT terms, project location and fundraising goal, becomes imperative to help facilitate crowdfunding success.

Drawing on data collected from six leading US-based equity and reward-based crowdfunding platforms in 2020, an empirical study was performed. Using the text analysis approach, the authors examined the positive effects of incorporating technology orientation on crowdfunding success. While the effect between the project description's signaling of geographic location, fundraising goal and articulation style on fundraising success, while controlling for project and platform characteristics.

The results suggested that the technology-orientated projects are more likely to achieve better fundraising outcomes. Taking crowdfunding platform types, project locations, minimum fundraising goals and articulation with analytical and authentic into consideration, the results still hold.

Building on the theoretical framework of signaling theory, the authors consider the crowdfunding-specific contextual factors to enhance the understanding of the positivity impact of technology orientation. By such addition, it facilitates more effective strategic composition of entrepreneurs' fundraising conversations.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the motivation of supporters to contribute resources to reward-based crowdfunding campaigns.

The paper reports results from a survey combining open and closed questions, addressing supporters of reward-based crowdfunding campaigns in the field of video game development. Publicly available data from a large crowdfunding website complements the approach.

Two groups of supporters emerge from the data: one group derives motivation almost exclusively from a purchasing motive, the other group displays the purchasing motive alongside an altruistic and involvement motive. There is little indication that social acknowledgement plays a role for supporter motivation. Supporters rely on the evaluation of previous activities of an entrepreneur to judge trustworthiness.

The manuscript offers empirical insights into the previously scarcely researched question why supporters contribute to reward-based crowdfunding. These insights inform research on reward-based crowdfunding and help entrepreneurs considering reward-based crowdfunding as a way to fund entrepreneurial activities.

Crowdfunding platforms are important innovations that allow nascent entrepreneurs to gain access to financial resources and crowd inputs to better refine and develop their business idea. The purpose of this paper is to investigate user-generated content (UGC) from both reward-based and equity-based crowdfunding platforms, in order to determine its implications for open and user innovation.

A total sample of 200 most funded technology products was extracted from four distinct crowdfunding platforms. A latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) analysis was performed in an attempt to identify critical latent factors. The analysis was carried out through the theoretical lens of innovation literature, in an attempt to uncover the implications for open and user innovation.

The authors were able to highlight the implications of crowd inputs for open and user innovation, as backers provided nascent entrepreneurs with several types of feedback, ranging from product co-development to strategy and marketing. Furthermore, the study provided an overview of the key differences emerging between reward-based and equity-based crowdfunding platforms in terms of crowd inputs.

The present study features intrinsic limitations of the LDA approach being adopted. More specifically, it only provides a “snapshot” in time of the current sample, rather than investigating its development over time.

The present study solidifies the value of UGC as a resource to mine for trends and feedback.

The study contributes to both the innovation literature and the crowdfunding literature. It bridges several gaps found in both literature streams, by providing empirical evidence to test and verify pre-existing exploratory research.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust management on the fundraising performance in reward-based crowdfunding.

A research model was constructed based on elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and literatures with five hypotheses developed. Data were collected from www.demohour.com - the first and one of the largest reward-based crowdfunding platforms in China. In total, 829 reward-based crowdfunding projects were analyzed to test hypotheses. To test the hypotheses, partial least squares was used to analyze data of entrepreneur/sponsor profiles, entrepreneur/sponsor behaviors, and crowdfunding projects.

Results indicated trust management significantly promoted fundraising performance via central (entrepreneur’s creditworthiness) and peripheral (entrepreneur-sponsor interactions) routes. The peripheral route (entrepreneur-sponsor interaction) showed significantly higher effects than the central route (entrepreneur’s creditworthiness). The finding aligns with authors’ assumptions derived from unique characteristics of reward-based crowdfunding – community and collaboration because personal, dynamic message interactions were more effective than static, historical success records on the trust establishment. In addition to the main effects, the results also showed entrepreneur’s prior success crowdfunding records positively moderated the effect of entrepreneur-sponsor interaction on fundraising performance.

This study is the first paper that reveals the value of trust management in reward-based fundraising, especially the effect of dynamic entrepreneur-sponsor message interactions. Entrepreneur-sponsor interactions not only promoted community benefits in crowdfunding, but also cultivated trust relationships between entrepreneurs and sponsors. Previous studies mainly focussed on the entrepreneur’s popularity level on third-party social media (such as Facebook) toward fundraising performance. This study examines the effect of direct entrepreneur-sponsor interactions on the crowdfunding platform. Additionally, this study found one moderating effect from the central route to the peripheral route. It is a rare case in studies based on ELM. Finally, this study demonstrates how to incorporate a theoretical framework guiding the analysis of structured and unstructured data for in-depth analysis, result interpretation, and corresponding intervention strategy development.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some drivers which can promote reward-based crowdfunding campaigns and then compare their effects on two categories of cultural and creative projects.

The authors first distinguished the roles of “intrinsic qualities” and “external supports” in crowdfunding campaigns. Then based on the theories of reward-based crowdfunding, impression management and social capital, a research model was built to discuss the effects of external supports and a comparative study was conducted by using data collected from Kickstarter.com.

It indicates that the three dimensions of external supports (reward support, impression support, and relationship support) have positive effects on film and video and publishing projects. Besides, the authors also found that “category of a project” can moderate the relationship between impression support and crowdfunding performance. The effect of impression support on visual works is different from that on printed works.

These findings not only prove that external supports actually play an important role in crowdfunding campaigns, but also reveal that for different categories of cultural and creative crowdfunding projects, the effects of external supports are different. Some other theoretical and practical implications are also provided.

This research reveals some details about the important role of external supports in crowdfunding campaigns and compares their effects on different categories of cultural and creative projects. It can provide useful suggestions for improving reward-based crowdfunding performance.

This paper aims to examine different hypotheses concerning the effects of guanxi on the reward-based crowdfunding project fundraising. Specifically, this study provides new insights into how guanxi and guanxi intensity may affect reward-based crowdfunding success and project performance in the Chinese context.

The research data including 989 crowdfunding projects were collected from zhongchou.com which is the largest reward-based crowdfunding platform in a one-year period (2014.1-2014.12). The hypotheses are tested by using robust OLS regressions and robust logistic regressions. Robustness check was also conducted to test the validation of the results.

This paper found that project developers’ guanxi-establishing behavior conducted before launching their own projects such as being fans of other projects and supporting other projects are positively related to project success. In addition, the intensity of guanxi-establishing behavior positively influences project performance in a significant way. Besides, the establishment and maintenance of project developers’ guanxi with funders during the fundraising process are also positively associated with project success and fundraising performance.

Based on the theory of trust, this paper offers an interesting and novel perspective to investigate reward-based crowdfunding success in the Chinese context by taking guanxi and guanxi intensity into consideration.

For centuries, people have raised money for many purposes, and funding projects utilizing the Internet began to spread in earnest after 2010. However, there is a notable lack of research on crowdfunding projects, especially those involving sports. Given this background, this study's objective is to compare whether motivational factors may work differently depending on crowdfunding type and to analyze the impact of such factors on investments.

This study was conducted using stimulation through artificially modified newspaper articles to measure crowdfunding motivation and investment intention. To clarify research questions, this study applied multiple regression analysis.

Findings indicate that philanthropic motives and interest in projects influenced the intention to decide on funding and often had positive word-of-mouth effects. In equity-based projects, philanthropic motives and a desire to be recognized acted as drivers for both behaviors. In reward-based projects, philanthropic motives determined investment intentions, and recognition motivation and interest factors influenced word-of-mouth intention.

This study investigated the motivations and consequent intentions for crowdfunding in the field of the professional sports industry, which had substantive future implications for the business of sports.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how influencer endorsement services stimulate funding intention in the context of crowdfunding (donation- and reward-based) and the moderating role played by platform trufvst and funder expertise.

To explore the effects of influencer endorsement services (i.e. perceived congruence, social influence and motivation) on funding intention in different crowdfunding campaigns, the authors developed a conceptual model tested using structural equation modelling. The authors also investigated two potential moderators underlying this relationship: platform trust and funder expertise.

The results of the study indicate that there was a positive effect of influencer endorsement services through the dimension congruence and the funding intention, both for reward- and donation-based crowdfunding. Moreover, they suggest that while perceived congruence has a positive effect on funding intention, when the two contexts are compared, only the moderating roles of platform trust over motivation and the funder expertise over motivation are significant and relevant.

The study has implications for both funders and those who seek to raise money for crowdfunding campaigns. The results offer new insights for developing effective crowdfunding campaigns, e.g. leveraging communication strategies based on the context of the crowdfunding (reward- vs donation-based) and the use of influencers as endorsers.

The present study is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first to examine the impact of influencer endorsement services on crowdfunding campaigns, shedding new light on the interdisciplinary connections between service marketing and entrepreneurial finance in terms of fundraising activities. The study opens new and previously under-investigated interdisciplinary research streams. It deepens our understanding of a particular issue relating to the marketing and crowdfunding domain by measuring the impact of the influencer’s endorsement on people’s intention to participate in two different campaigns.