Thanks to the development of the Web 2.0, the new-generation interactive web
focuses on involving its users as value-creating agents. As such, the way companies
do business online and interact with their customers has also been changing.
Organizations can rely on this technology to innovate and create new distributed
business models that are also profitable and sustainable (Villarroel & Gorbatai
2011a, 2011b).
As such, a recent organizational concept, crowdsourcing, enables firms to make an
open call to source ideas, work, etc. from the crowd. In particular, as the concept
found new areas of application, it is now possible to source the crowd for funding
through “crowdfunding” platforms.
This thesis focuses on social lending initiatives - in which individual members of the
crowd support social causes and other individuals, helping them to get funding for
their projects through crowdfunding platforms. The aim is to study the motivational
foundations of lenders.
The results show that social lenders’ motivations are intrinsic in nature. On one
hand, lenders do contribute more often in social lending initiatives if: they have
humanitarian and altruistic values; need to protect their ego from the negative
features of the self; and if they enjoy and have fun during the process of investing.
On the other hand, when it comes to extrinsic motivations, lenders do participate
less often when they have social pressure; or when they feel they have to protect
others from the negative features of their lives.
In order to contribute more times and support more projects, lenders must be
intrinsically motivated, since extrinsic motivations make them feel oblidged to help,
which decreases their frequency of participation
