The Signal Value of Crowdfunded Products

Autor(en)

Ogus A. Acar, D.W. Dahl, Christoph Fuchs, Martin Schreier

Abstrakt

Crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative means of financing new ventures by utilizing the financial support of a large group of individual investors. This research asks a novel question: Does being crowdfunded carry any signal value for the broader market of observing consumers? Seven studies reveal a consumer preference for crowdfunded products, even after controlling for a product’s objective product characteristics. The authors identify two inferences that help explain this effect: (1) consumers perceive crowdfunded products to be of higher quality, and (2) they believe that supporting crowdfunding reduces inequality in the marketplace. The authors further document an important boundary condition of the first inference: the identified effect reverses in high-risk domains (e.g., products that involve high physical risk) due to consumer perceptions that the crowdfunding model lacks sufficient professionalism to mitigate risk. With regard to the second inference, the authors find that the positive crowdfunding effect is particularly strong among consumers who value social equality. Taken together, this work sheds new light on consumer perceptions of crowdfunding, elucidates why and when consumers prefer crowdfunded products, and offers actionable implications for managers.

Organisation(en)

Externe Organisation(en)

University of London, University of British Columbia (UBC), Technische Universität München, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU)

Journal

Journal of Marketing Research

Band

58

Seiten

644-661

Anzahl der Seiten

18

ISSN

0022-2437

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437211012451

Publikationsdatum

03-2021

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

502019 Marketing

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Economics and Econometrics, Marketing, Business and International Management

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 10 – Weniger Ungleichheiten

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/e6dad36a-01f1-4a5f-8717-08911ec8823e