998 research outputs found

    Do crowdfunding returns reward risk? Evidences from clean-tech projects

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    The growing literature on crowdfunding has mostly focused on the determinants of campaigns success, as well as on the legal and macroeconomic drivers of the crowdfunding diffusion as a mean to finance innovative projects. Still there are scant evidences on whether the returns for crowdfunders are consistent with the risk profile of crowdfunded projects. By studying 365 European clean-tech projects which raised capital via crowdfunding, we show that once the country risk has been accounted for, the returns are not consistent with the risks related to the technology adopted by the projects. Behavioral factors like bounded rationality or the cultural dimension of investors may explain this apparent mispricing of risks. While projects' returns are, on average, negatively related to risks, we find that projects offering better risk-adjusted returns attract relatively larger average contributions. Our results have important implications for understanding the drivers of crowdfunding returns and its sustainability, and particularly for its diffusion as an instrument to foster the transition to a low-carbon economy.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

    Building a successful crowdfunding campaign: what marketing factors do really matter for your project?

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    Crowdfunding platforms constitute a new source to bring together entrepreneurs and potential funders where resources are gathered by an online community for people. Both extrinsic and intrinsic motives incentivize founders and funders to take part in the community. In our study, we focus on the role of marketing and communication in the probability that projects are successfully funded. We analysed more than 7,500 projects in the reward-based platform Kickstarter and found that intensive communication activities namely in the number of project updates, Facebook shares and comments are associated with a higher likelihood of success. Results also indicate that, the higher the number of Facebook friends (personal community), the more funds projects attract. Interestingly, a website is not found to be important to raise funding as well as Facebook accounts with low numbers of friends. Afterwards, the pitch video has an impact on financing but its significance varies per project category as it is the case for projects’ profile page details on Kickstarter. We found evidence that a good-structured project description in terms of number of words can help increase the chances to reach the funding goal for certain categories like Film & Video and Games but, for others like Technology, the number of images is more significant. Other multimedia effects, such as videos and FAQs have both positive and negative effects on project types and should not overburden the campaign. From our findings, we then discuss managerial and theoretical implications.As plataformas de crowdfunding constituem uma nova fonte para reunir empreendedores e potenciais financiadores, onde os recursos financeiros são reunidos por uma comunidade on-line para as pessoas. Motivos extrínsecos e intrínsecos incentivam os fundadores e financiadores a participarem na comunidade. Este estudo analisa o papel do marketing e da comunicação na probabilidade de os projetos serem financiados com sucesso. Analisámos mais de 7,500 projetos na plataforma Kickstarter e descobrimos que atividades de comunicação intensiva, nomeadamente no número de atualizações de projetos, Facebook shares e comentários, estão associadas a uma maior probabilidade de sucesso. Os resultados também indicam que, maior é o número de amigos no Facebook (comunidade pessoal), mais fundos os projetos atraem. Curiosamente, um sítio web não é importante para levantar fundos, bem como contas no Facebook com um baixo número de amigos. Depois, o vídeo de pitch tem um impacto sobre o financiamento, mas a sua significância varia de acordo com a categoria do projeto, como é o caso dos detalhes da página de perfil dos projetos no Kickstarter. Encontrámos evidência que uma descrição de projeto bem estruturada em termos de número de palavras ajuda a aumentar as chances de alcançar a meta de financiamento para determinadas categorias, como Cinema & Vídeo e Jogos, mas para outras, como Tecnologia, o número de imagens é mais significativo. Outros efeitos multimídia, como vídeos e FAQs, têm efeitos positivos e negativos e não devem sobrecarregar a campanha. A partir de nossas descobertas, discutimos as implicações teóricas e gerenciais

    Two Sides of the Same Coin: Essays Investigating the Founder and Backer Dynamics of Crowdfunding

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    Crowdfunding provides the opportunity for entrepreneurs to acquire capital for their projects by utilizing a platform that allows the masses to provide funds towards the completion of the project. Thus, it can be looked at as two sides of the same coin. On one side you have the entrepreneurs seeking the funds otherwise known as founders, and on the other are those that provide the funds also known as backers. The purpose of this study is to investigate what factors lead to founders successfully attaining their funding, what motivates backers to support the projects, and whether the founders can deliver post-funding. Under the theoretical lens of signaling theory, the first study explores how founders manage the information asymmetry dynamic within crowdfunding and what factors are associated with acquiring the capital to successfully fund technology-based projects within reward-based crowdfunding. Specifically, I predict that the innovativeness of a project, the skills, abilities, honesty and kindness of founders, can positively affect crowdfunding achievement. I also hypothesize and test that positive emotional characteristics can strengthen the relationship between products usefulness and funding success. Data was collected from the Kickstarer.com crowdfunding platform to test the theory. The analyses show that specific individual skill (entrepreneurs’ industry experience) negatively influences their funding success, but entrepreneur’s personal characteristics (previous funding experience and frequent updates) are positively related to crowdfunding achievement. In addition, the level of education positively influences the relationship between innovation and funding success. The study suggests that social factors dominate crowdfunding more than economic soundness, however recent studies suggest a conflict. Moreover, there has been little to no research investigating what happens after crowdfunding achievement. Building off of the first study, the second essay focuses on two areas, what motivates funders to give and do they know what they are doing. Specifically, I investigate which signals are most effective at identifying founders that deliver on their projects. I argue that three types of orientations are exhibited by backers as a result of the signals they prioritize. They include stakeholder, enthusiast, and advocate orientation. Backers that exhibit stakeholder orientation are more likely to support projects that the founders can execute post-funding in terms of delivery time and quality expectations, whereas those that display advocate orientation will support projects where they may never be executed by the founder. Enthusiast orientation is characteristic of backers that are focused on the innovativeness and usefulness of a product. Consequently, these products may be too difficult for founders to deliver on time or meet the quality expectations they set forth. In order to test the hypotheses, I conduct a survey of backers, which provides the opportunity to shed light into an area that has been significantly neglected in crowdfunding research. Whether backers know how to select effective entrepreneurs

    Three essays on likability factors, crowdfunding, and entrepreneurial performance

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    In this dissertation, I conduct three empirical studies exploring the relation between likability factors, crowdfunding characteristics and entrepreneurial performance. Together these studies integrate aspects of major entrepreneurial likability factors including liking of the entrepreneur (source attractiveness, credibility, personal traits) and liking of the message (verbal content and expression), and components of nonverbal and verbal cues. I apply computer-mediated communication (CMC) and persuasion theories, political and marketing literature to provide a more fine-grained understanding of likability on crowdfunding success. In the first essay, I study how the non-verbal cues of a crowdfunding video influence the crowdfunding success. By employing social presence theory, I argue, hypothesize and test that effective use of non-verbal cues in a pitch video increases funding success. In the second essay, I explore how verbal cues (readability and complexity) and non-verbal cues (smiling and professional attire) interact to influence crowdfunding outcome. Findings of this essay indicate that powerful persuasion results from both expression (verbal cues) and impression (non-verbal cues). The third essay examines the mediating effect of likability between nonverbal, verbal cues and crowdfunding success. According to the likability factors extracted from political and advertising campaign literature, I conclude five main dimensions of likability in crowdfunding context. The results show that message factors are more influential than source factors in affecting crowdfunding outcome. Findings of three essays show that entrepreneurs should be careful to deliver a message which is immediate, simple, informative, humorous, storytelling and less complimentary to their funders. The more their messages are liked, the more likely funders will back their projects, and then the more success their crowdfunding campaign will be

    THE NEW ENTREPRENEURIAL LANDSCAPE AND THE VALUE CO-CREATION PROCESS: THE ROLE OF THE CROWD IN THE PRE-PURCHASE CROWDFUNDING

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    The entrepreneurial finance landscape is changing very rapidly (Block, Colombo, Cumming, Vismara, 2018). New players have emerged, with a determinant contribution of the technological revolution. The resources interplay in the peer-to-peer business and network has led to the development of new financing instruments able to boosting innovation and the creation of new ventures. Social and economic innovation is searching new ways to emerge; this requires new models for interpreting the enlarged notion of value in the crowd/entrepreneurs relationship. Despite the rapid growth of alternative finance, the academic literature on crowdfunding as a new financing model able to reduce financing constraints for firms, still lack evidence whether and how these new players and their investment approach are transforming the entrepreneurial landscape. In particular, the reference is to the complex mix of economic and social expectations deriving from the participation to the pre-purchase crowdfunding mechanism. Findings from the explorative study suggest that the pre-purchase mechanism is leading to the configuration of new market niches, where supporters act as an informed investor and consumers. Additionally, the joint value created by the efforts made by entrepreneurs and the crowd, creates sounder positive externalities, those favor growth possibilities to survive of the new ventures

    Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 1: Change, Voices, Open

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    In September 2019 Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University was honoured to host the bi-annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) under the unifying theme of DESIGN REVOLUTIONS. This was the first time the conference had been held in the UK. Through key research themes across nine conference tracks – Change, Learning, Living, Making, People, Technology, Thinking, Value and Voices – the conference opened up compelling, meaningful and radical dialogue of the role of design in addressing societal and organisational challenges. This Volume 1 includes papers from Change, Voices and Open tracks of the conference

    Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research

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    ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms. [There is ever more research on smart cities and new interdisciplinary approaches proposed on the study of smart cities. At the same time, problems pertinent to communities inhabiting rural areas are being addressed, as part of discussions in contigious fields of research, be it environmental studies, sociology, or agriculture. Even if rural areas and countryside communities have previously been a subject of concern for robust policy frameworks, such as the European Union’s Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy Arguably, the concept of ‘the village’ has been largely absent in the debate. As a result, when advances in sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) led to the emergence of a rich body of research on smart cities, the application and usability of ICT in the context of a village has remained underdiscussed in the literature. Against this backdrop, this volume delivers on four objectives. It delineates the conceptual boundaries of the concept of ‘smart village’. It highlights in which ways ‘smart village’ is distinct from ‘smart city’. It examines in which ways smart cities research can enrich smart villages research. It sheds light on the smart village research agenda as it unfolds in European and global contexts.

    A Resource dependence perspective on crowdfunded social enterprises

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    Succeeding as a social enterprise is challenging because its performance, legitimacy, and autonomy emerge from the social-economic tensions inherent in its operation. Social enterprises tend to shield themselves from external demands and pressures if they fail to fulfil their dual mission, creating challenges in resource acquisitions. Accordingly, such challenges fundamentally change the relationship between social enterprises and resource providers. Therefore, social enterprises often struggle to acquire resources; thus, they need innovative forms of resource acquisition. By adapting resource dependence theory and data collected from social enterprises, this study investigates the role of reward-based crowdfunding in social enterprises’ performance and how the legitimacy and autonomy of social enterprises mediate such a relationship. The findings show that reward-based crowdfunding does not directly or indirectly shape the performance of social enterprises. Nevertheless, the findings indicate that crowdfunding increases the legitimacy of social enterprises. Moreover, although crowdfunding does not appear to be related to the autonomy of social enterprises, autonomy itself supports the social and innovation performance of social enterprises. Thus, this study challenges the expected positive role of crowdfunding in social enterprises’ performance but shows that crowdfunding continues to benefit social enterprises as it increases their legitimacy. Theoretically, this study suggests legitimacy can be an end in itself for social enterprises. These results support a characterisation of resource dependence theory as a sociological theory in which establishing social acceptability is important in its own right. However, the findings contradict the view of resource dependence theory as a theory of organisational performance. The missing link between resource acquisition, legitimacy, and performance suggests that resource dependence theory can explain organisational actions with societal acceptance rather than financial performance. Moreover, the findings indicate that autonomy is an essential characteristic of social enterprises allowing organisations to pursue different goals, which can protect against potential mission drift. Correspondingly, the study contributes to practices by showing that reward-based crowdfunding is a practical utility that can solve managerial problems related to attaining legitimacy. This study shows that crowdfunding is still a fledgling field for enabling social entrepreneurship; therefore, this study contributes to the current societal and governmental discussions on the financial inclusion of social enterprises within social economy policies.Resurssiriippuvuusteoreettinen näkökulma joukkorahoitettuihin yhteiskunnallisiin yrityksiin Yhteiskunnallisen yrityksen menestyminen on haastavaa, koska sen tuloksellisuus, legitimiteetti ja autonomia rakentuvat sen toimintaan sisältyvistä sosioekonomisista jännitteistä. Yhteiskunnalliset yritykset pyrkivät suojautumaan ulkoisilta vaatimuksista ja paineilta, jos ne eivät täytä taloudellista ja yhteiskunnallista kaksoisrooliaan, mikä luo haasteita resurssien hankintaan. Tällaiset haasteet muuttavat perusteellisesti yhteiskunnallisten yritysten ja resurssien tarjoajien välisiä suhteita. Yhteiskunnallisilla yrityksillä on usein vaikeuksia hankkia resursseja ja ne siksi tarvitsevat innovatiivisia keinoja resurssien hankkimiseksi. Resurssiriippuvuusteoriaa ja yhteiskunnallisilta yrityksiltä kerättyä tutkimusaineistoa yhdistämällä tässä tutkimuksessa tutkitaan palkkioperusteisen joukkorahoituksen roolia yhteiskunnallisten yritysten menestyksessä ja miten yritysten legitimiteetti ja autonomia välittävät tätä roolia. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että palkkioperusteinen joukkorahoitus ei suoraan tai välillisesti muokkaa yhteiskunnallisten yritysten menestystä. Tulokset kuitenkin osoittavat, että palkkioperusteinen joukkorahoitus lisää yhteiskunnallisten yritysten legitimiteettiä. Lisäksi vaikka joukkorahoitus ei näytä vaikuttavan yhteiskunnallisten yritysten autonomiaan, autonomia itsessään tukee yritysten sosiaalista ja innovaatiokyvykkyyttä. Tulostensa myötä tämä tutkimus haastaa joukkorahoituksen oletettua myönteistä roolia yhteiskunnallisten yritysten menestymisessä, mutta osoittaa, että palkkioperusteinen joukkorahoitus hyödyttää yhteiskunnallisia yrityksiä vahvistamalla niiden legitimiteettiä. Teoreettisesti tutkimus osoittaakin, että legitimiteetin saavuttaminen voi olla päämäärä yhteiskunnallisille yrityksille. Siten tulokset tukevat resurssiriippuvuusteorian luonnehdintaa sosiologiseksi teoriaksi, joka korostaa sosiaalisen hyväksyttävyyden vahvistamista. Tutkimuksen havainnot ovat kuitenkin myös ristiriidassa resurssiriippuvuusteorian näkemyksen kanssa organisaation menestymisen teoriana. Puuttuva linkki resurssien hankinnan, legitimiteetin ja organisaation menestyksen välillä viittaa siihen, että resurssiriippuvuusteoria voi selittää organisaation toimintaa, jolla on yhteiskunnallinen hyväksyntä taloudellisen menestymisen sijaan. Lisäksi tutkimuksen havainnot viittaavat siihen, että autonomia on yhteiskunnallisten yritysten olennainen ominaisuus, jonka ansiosta ne voivat saavuttaa erilaisia tavoitteita, jotka puolestaan voivat suojata yrityksiä mahdolliselta toiminnan tavoitteiden muutoksilta. Näin ollen tämä tutkimus osoittaa käytännön suosituksena, että palkkioperusteinen joukkorahoitus voi ratkaista organisaation legitimiteetin saavuttamiseen liittyviä johtamishaasteita. Lisäksi tutkimus osoittaa, että joukkorahoitus on vielä kehittyvä ala yhteiskunnallisen yrittäjyyden mahdollistajana, ja siksi tutkimuksen tulokset edistävät nykyistä yhteiskunnallista ja poliittista keskustelua yhteiskunnallisten yritysten taloudellisesta osallisuudesta talous- ja sosiaalipolitiikassa

    Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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    Information Governance Modularity in Open Data

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