Localization of Crowdfunding Platforms : The Influencing Role of Culture, Institutions and Geography

Master's thesis Business Administration BE501 - University of Agder 2019This master thesis examines the role played by culture, geography and institutions onEuropean crowdfunding platform’s decision to localize their content towards international markets. The authors conducted a binary logistic regression analysis is based on 470 observations of platform-country dyads collected from 269 European crowdfunding platforms and supplemented by additional sources of macro level indicators. Of the eleven hypotheses, social trust, geographical distance, high-context culture, rule of law and the investment orientation on platform have an effect on the decision to localize the platforms. IT infrastructure and the cultural dimensions of individualism, uncertainty avoidance, as well as a compounded variable of cultural distance, did not impact the same decision. The study’s findings are limited contextually to European crowdfunding platforms offering lending, equity, donation and reward-based models. Other micro-factors or countries of operation may exhibit different patterns than what is presented in this thesis. The study is one of the first in the field of localization andcrowdfunding, opening up for new discussions and insights. The results constitute and challenge the pre-existing theory on website localization. This thesis’ findings suggest that the context of this research is of significant impact as cultural adaptation has been highlighted to be one of the key factors to succeed in foreign markets in other industries

Chinese-Style Of Reward-Based Crowd-Funding: Financial Approaches Or Marketing Tools?

Crowd-funding is an emerging industry in China. However, Chinese crowd-funding market has some different characteristics to its US-based or Europe-based predecessors. Some of Chinese founders regard reward-based crowd-funding as a funding approach, while others highlight its marketing functions. Thus, which play more important role at present? This paper investigates the reason for the special performance of reward-based crowd-funding in China from multiple perspectives. The results indicate that the special institutional environments of China---lack of perfect social credit systems and legal systems, not granting legal definition and status for crowd-funding, leads to an inevitable result that Chinese founders make heavy use of the marketing functions of crowd-funding but make light use of the funding function at the present stage. With the perfecting of the institutional and legal environment, many small-and-medium-enterprises and individual entrepreneurs are expected to pay more attention on the funding function of crowd-funding than today

Social Investment Landscape in Asia: Insights from North and South Asia

AVPN has identified the need for a comprehensive overview of the Asian philanthropy and social investment landscape to offer social investors a guide to the opportunities for social investment in Asia. The Social Investment Landscape in Asia will be an invaluable resource for funders and resource providers as they assess the opportunities and challenges for philanthropy and social investment in the region. It is designed to be a guide for both new social investors looking to enter the Asian market and existing social investorsexploring cross-border or cross-sector opportunities within the region. The Landscape is another way to further AVPN's mission to increase the flow of financial, human and intellectual capital to the Asian socialsector.The report provides a holistic view of the current and emerging philanthropy and social investment landscape in Asia. It also features in-depth profiles of 14 Asian regions which include:- An overview of key demographic and macroeconomic conditions- Key development issues facing the country- Background and context to the social economy in the region- Overview of the legislative environment- Key social investors, recent developments and investment trends- Opportunities, challenges and recommendation

Socially responsible behaviour: Who supports societal crowdfunding among Chinese and Japanese university students?

Crowdfunding is one of social finance measures and has been become a global phenomenon of growing socio-economic importance. To identify who supports social-good fields of crowdfunding, this study determined: (a) consumer consciousness and actual crowdfunding usage, (b) awareness and the image of crowdfunding, and (c) factors supporting crowdfunding, by sampling younger university students as potential major users to understand their tendencies. The results showed that the top three fields of crowdfunding that both groups would like to support were child education, disaster recovery and medical welfare, recognized as societal fields. Furthermore, the results of personality and intentionality traits showed that individuals with openness, instead of agreeableness, were inclined toward many fields of crowdfunding. Social-oriented individuals would support medical welfare and environmental protection, those with conscientiousness would support child education, and those with neuroticism would support natural disaster recovery. In contrast, individual-oriented persons with neuroticism would support human rights, and those with neuroticism and openness would support minority rights. This study is the first to clarify the consumer character willing to engage in socially responsible behaviour on current global issues.Bulletin論文Articledepartmental bulletin pape

Crowdfunding In Norway: Empirical Study Examining Entrepreneurs' Intentions to Use Crowdfunding

This master's thesis investigates the drivers and inhibitors influencing the intention of entrepreneurs to use crowdfunding as a financing method, with a focus on the potential distinctions between native and immigrant entrepreneurs in Norway. Crowdfunding has emerged as an inclusive alternative source of finance, enabling individuals and businesses to overcome traditional funding limitations. Immigrant entrepreneurs, in particular, face unique challenges when seeking financial capital from conventional sources. However, research exploring the intention to adopt crowdfunding by entrepreneurs is limited. Using an empirical analysis based on online survey data from 231 entrepreneurs in Norway, this study aims to bridge the research gap by identifying the factors shaping entrepreneurs' intentions to use crowdfunding. The study reveals that there are three key drivers positively impacting the intention to use crowdfunding by entrepreneurs in Norway: (1) being an immigrant, (2) perceived trust in the crowdfunding platform, and (3) the perceived usefulness of crowdfunding for their business venture. On the other hand, immigrant entrepreneurs demonstrated a higher intention to use crowdfunding, while native Norwegian entrepreneurs exhibited greater trust in the platform, stronger social capital within Norway, and increased access to financing through public grants and private investors. The thesis begins with a literature review of existing research on crowdfunding, focusing on entrepreneurs' motivations. Subsequently, 13 hypotheses were presented and tested using the quantitative research method. The thesis concludes by summarizing key contributions, acknowledging limitations, and providing insights for further research and implications for crowdfunding platforms and entrepreneurs in Norway

Crowdfunding In Norway: Empirical Study Examining Entrepreneurs' Intentions to Use Crowdfunding

This master's thesis investigates the drivers and inhibitors influencing the intention of entrepreneurs to use crowdfunding as a financing method, with a focus on the potential distinctions between native and immigrant entrepreneurs in Norway. Crowdfunding has emerged as an inclusive alternative source of finance, enabling individuals and businesses to overcome traditional funding limitations. Immigrant entrepreneurs, in particular, face unique challenges when seeking financial capital from conventional sources. However, research exploring the intention to adopt crowdfunding by entrepreneurs is limited. Using an empirical analysis based on online survey data from 231 entrepreneurs in Norway, this study aims to bridge the research gap by identifying the factors shaping entrepreneurs' intentions to use crowdfunding. The study reveals that there are three key drivers positively impacting the intention to use crowdfunding by entrepreneurs in Norway: (1) being an immigrant, (2) perceived trust in the crowdfundingplatform and (3) the perceived usefulness of crowdfunding for theirbusiness venture. On the other hand, immigrant entrepreneurs demonstrated a higher intention to use crowdfunding, while native Norwegian entrepreneurs exhibited greater trust in the platform, stronger social capital within Norway, and increased access to financing through both public grants and private investors. The thesis begins with a literature review of existing research on crowdfunding, focusing on entrepreneurs' motivations. Subsequently, 13 hypotheses were presented, which were tested using the quantitative research method. The thesis concludes by summarizing key contributions, acknowledging limitations, and providing insights for further research and implications for both crowdfunding platforms and entrepreneurs in Norway

The Global Philanthropy Environment Index 2018

The Global Philanthropy Environment Index is the only known research report that provides comprehensive information about the philanthropic environment in 79 countries and economies around the world using a standard instrument completed by country-based experts. The report expands knowledge by compiling and disseminating new comparative data on the philanthropic environment. The index will serve as an invaluable international resource for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers

Social Investment Landscape in Asia: Insights from Southeast Asia

AVPN has identified the need for a comprehensive overview of the Asian philanthropy and social investment landscape to offer social investors a guide to the opportunities for social investment in Asia. The Social Investment Landscape in Asia will be an invaluable resource for funders and resource providers as they assess the opportunities and challenges for philanthropy and social investment in the region. It is designed to be a guide for both new social investors looking toenter the Asian market and existing social investors exploring cross-border or cross-sector opportunities within the region. The Landscape is another way to further AVPN's mission to increase the flow of financial, human and intellectual capital to the Asian social sector

The role of social trust in reward crowdfunding campaigns’ design and success

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Advances in Crowdfunding: Research and Practice

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