A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a rapidly growing technology-enabled process that has the potential to disrupt the capital market space. In order for this process to work efficiently, it is important to clarify the issues surrounding the phenomenon from the founders’, the backers’, and the technology providers’ viewpoints. We begin with an ecosystem view to understand the stakeholders and their roles in the crowdfunding process. We review the literature with a focus on how current research fits into the overall crowdfunding phenomenon. Guided by typology and classification research approaches, we identify six distinct crowdfunding business models: private equity, royalty, microfinance, peer-to-peer lending, rewards, and donation. Based on identified roles and crowdfunding business models, we propose a conceptual research framework. We conclude by showing how current research fits into our proposed framework and offer suggestions for future research directions

Essays on Crowdfunding Adoption and Behavior

The aim of this dissertation is to examine aspects of crowdfunding adoption and behavior. Accordingly, the overarching research question answered by this dissertation is: what influences crowdfunding backers’ contribution intentions and behaviors? The dissertation answers this question while focusing on dimensions of trust, community, and technological acceptance. The dissertation is made up of three studies with one conceptual article (study 1), and two empirical studies (study 2 and 3). The conceptual study marries marketing and trust literatures and contextualizes their implications for the crowdfunding context. The result is the development of a framework of trust-based marketing strategies for crowdfunding campaigns, building on the understanding of the critical role played by trust in crowdfunding adoption by prospective backers. The empirical studies (i.e., study 2 and 3), are based on the analyses of empirical data collected from actual platform users, while using Structural Equation Model techniques. These studies examine the antecedents of backers’ contribution intentions and behavior, specifically in the context of reward crowdfunding in Finland. Study 2 explains backers’ intention and behavior by testing the extensive version of the technology acceptance model (TAM). It confirms the relevance of the TAM model for properly capturing influential antecedents of backers’ financial contribution intentions and behavior and further elaborates on the specific influences of backers’ experiences and voluntariness, which challenge existing conceptualizations from other information and communication technology -related contexts. Study 3 builds on the view of crowdfunding as an embedded phenomenon in online communities, to develop a community-based crowdfunding framework for explaining backers’ contribution intentions and behaviors, while highlighting the roles of community identification and community trust.publishedVersio

Value proposition as a framework for value co-creation in crowd-funding ecosystem

The present paper suggests that crowd-funding in the arts and cultural sector occurs within a complex service ecosystem, where six categories of value propositions frame eight value co-creation processes, namely through ideation, evaluation, design, testing, launch, financing and authorship. Managerial contributions include the development of a crowd-funding service ecosystem model for arts managers, which offers not only a method of financing or economic value, but which also offers opportunities for strengthening bonds with customers and other stakeholders. Our paper is innovative in that we integrate value propositions categories with the micro – meso and macro contexts and analyse the different kind of co-creation are framed in the crowdfunding contextUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Cryptocurrency functioning in the global economy

The article reveals a conceptual basis of the cryptocurrency functioning. The main types of cryptocurrencies are featured and analyzed as well as their general strengths and weaknesses. Based on the price dynamics correlation analysis of some cryptocurrency types, a general low level of dependence between digital assets is established. The main functions of the cryptocurrency are formulated in the form of transformed money functions. Also, additional functions of cryptocurrencies are defined on the basis of their innovative nature, as well as the role in the modern financial system and world economic relations

Leveraging Technology Through Crowdfunding to Ease Barriers of Entry Into the Marketplace

Small businesses and entrepreneurs face barriers to entering new markets, such as access to capital. Crowdfunding is one method for financing new ventures. The purpose of this article is to explore how crowdfunding can ease barriers of entry into new markets. Drawing from strategic management, planning, marketing, and technology acceptance literature, we present a conceptual model to explain the use of crowdfunding by small businesses and entrepreneurs. Factors that impact individuals’ propensity to utilize crowdfunding as a source of capital include ease of use, intention to use, attitudes toward use, and effectiveness

A Trust-Based Crowdfunding Campaign Marketing Framework: Theoretical Underpinnings and Big-Data Analytics Practice

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Religious Prosocial Crowdlending - Dual-market Success Mechanisms

Paper I is excluded from the dissertation due to copyright. Paper II and III are excluded from the dissertation until it is publishedCrowdfunding is a relatively new and rapidly growing global phenomenon that has appealed to academic curiosity. At its crux, it is rooted in the communal philosophy of greater good. The online technological intervention can be traced back to 2006, while the phenomenon took center-stage in the midst of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Over a decade and a half, the crowdfunding industry has grown into several distinct forms and business models. This dissertation started with a systematic literature review that broadly considered four mainstream business models of crowdfunding, and how it is possible to bridge the knowledge gaps left behind. This led to two empirical papers, motivated by the World Bank’s recommendation of a hybrid type of crowdfunding called prosocial crowdlending, to alleviate poverty from the developing economies, where poverty alleviation is the first of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. While considering the developing economies that are innately non-secular, Islam was one of the religions that did not contribute to economic success as per the extant literature. On the contrary, such Islamic developing economies have thriving religious markets. This presented a dichotomy between theory and practice and a research gap that needed to be addressed. Insights from Max Weber that religions such as Christianity have clearly contributed to economic development of the West were recalled. These insights were applied in the empirical papers focusing on Islam, extending Weber’s seminal work from west to east. The findings of the empirical papers suggest that Islam does contribute to economic growth, albeit in a welfarist sense rather than in a capitalist sense. The overall contribution that this dissertation makes to the religious prosocial crowdlending is in identifying its dual-market success mechanisms through the developed theories and integrated typologies. These explain how religious capital is being converted to economic capital facilitated by trust in otherwise low-trust developing economies, on the supply side, and religious rationality that encourages sustainable micro-entrepreneurship despite the longstanding duality between religion and reason, on the demand side. In doing so, this dissertation also explains how Islam contributes to the economic welfare of such economies, and how to channelize religious capital towards economic development by utilizing technologically enabled religious prosocial crowdlending as a strategic philanthropic tool, to successfully impact poverty by enabling micro-entrepreneurship.publishedVersio

Crowdfunding Among Event Entrepreneurs: A Conceptual Paper

This paper aims to uncover the benefits of crowdfunding among Event Entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The study reviews literature on the definition, discussion and its revolution related to capital -raising, networking, investment, and crowdfunding among Event Entrepreneurs. The method used for this paper is based on literature reviews from journal articles, conference proceedings, newspaper, books and internet search related to this research area. The conceptual framework is recommended in the end of the paper as it allows reader to understand how the benefits will affects towards crowdfunding among Event Entrepreneurs. Hence, it will provide more research interest in crowdfunding in the future.     Keywords: crowdfunding, event, event crowdfundin

An Annotated Bibliography of Recent Literature on Current Developments in Philanthropy

As philanthropic organizations play an increasingly important role in societies around the world, the research on philanthropy – from giving and volunteering practices to regulatory frameworks to digital innovations – has also evolved in recent decades. It is important to develop a thorough overview of the relevant scientific discourses and literature on current developments in philanthropy. This will allow researchers and practitioners to enhance the understanding of philanthropy and to improve its practice worldwide. This report provides new insights on current developments and important changes in the global philanthropic landscape, including trends in global philanthropy and its interaction with other sectors of society