Understanding backers’ interactions with crowdfunding campaigns

Abstract

Purpose Crowdfunding has become a popular method to acquire capital for entrepreneurial ventures. To successfully achieve funding goals, it is critical for crowdfunding campaigns to attain support of individuals (backers). This paper aims to presents a conceptual model that links a reward-based crowdfunding campaign’s product, pitch and promoter characteristics to expert and casual backers’ evaluation and behavior. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws from literature from consumer behavior, network, signaling and informational social influence theories to design a conceptual framework that highlights factors that influence potential backers’ participation in crowdfunding campaigns. Findings It is demonstrated that the conceptual framework presented in the manuscript usefully organizes the real-world tactical marketing decisions of a crowdfunding backer while also being readily amendable to integrating theoretical accounts of human behavior from a diverse body of social science literature. Empirically testable propositions are derived from this social science literature and recast into a manner that could be investigated in the crowdfunding context to expand the body of knowledge on this topic. Practical implications This manuscript provides a framework that can be useful to crowdfunders who wish to strategically plan how their marketing communication plan features may be tailored to attract both early- and late-stage crowdfunding backers. Originality/value This paper is novel in the crowdfunding literature because it integrates a diverse body of literature to explicitly identify how the strategic and tactical marketing communication characteristics of a crowdfunding campaign are likely to differently influence different types of potential crowdfunding backers.