User Behaviors, User Engagement, and Consequences

Loading...

Media is loading
 

Paper Type

Completed

Paper Number

1607

Description

Crowdfunding project creators usually launch referral programs to increase the user base. While there is a growing literature on crowdfunding, evidence on the role of referrals and its impact across crowdfunding projects is still inadequate. Leveraging data from a reward-based crowdfunding platform, we first investigate how referrals impact the project’s fundraising performance and post-fundraising satisfaction. Then we explore whether and how a focal project’s referrals influence related projects’ fundraising performance. We find that both volume of shared and successful referrals positively impacts the project’s fundraising success. The volume of successful referrals rather than the previously adopted shared referrals is positively associated with the percentage of positive reviews a project receives, serving as an efficient signal of project quality. Lastly, we uncover positive spillovers among projects posted by the same creator, and observe cannibalization for projects launched by different creators and within the same category.

Share

COinS
 
Dec 14th, 12:00 AM

Understanding the Effect of Referrals in Reward-Based Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding project creators usually launch referral programs to increase the user base. While there is a growing literature on crowdfunding, evidence on the role of referrals and its impact across crowdfunding projects is still inadequate. Leveraging data from a reward-based crowdfunding platform, we first investigate how referrals impact the project’s fundraising performance and post-fundraising satisfaction. Then we explore whether and how a focal project’s referrals influence related projects’ fundraising performance. We find that both volume of shared and successful referrals positively impacts the project’s fundraising success. The volume of successful referrals rather than the previously adopted shared referrals is positively associated with the percentage of positive reviews a project receives, serving as an efficient signal of project quality. Lastly, we uncover positive spillovers among projects posted by the same creator, and observe cannibalization for projects launched by different creators and within the same category.

When commenting on articles, please be friendly, welcoming, respectful and abide by the AIS eLibrary Discussion Thread Code of Conduct posted here.