The Initiator Perspective: Success Factors in Reward Based Crowdfunding Projects - A quantitative study within the creative industries

Abstract: Crowdfunding has attracted a lot of attention and the existing literature landscape has made attempts to grasp the very diverse and dynamic nature of the phenomenon. However, the field remains still quite unexplored and studies related to specific industries are rare. This study aims at bridging the existing literature gap for the creative industries by creating a set of guidelines regarding the success factors of reward based crowdfunding for the creative project initiator. The study adopts a quantitative method design using a logistic regression model, extending on previous scholars' work (Mollick, 2014; Müllerleile and Joenssen, 2014). In this design, success is coded as a dichotomous outcome and different independent variables are used as potential predictors of funding success. The study extends on existing literature, which is mainly focused on American multipurpose platforms, by analysing the Swiss platform wemakeit, a reward based crowdfunding platform with a focus on the creative industries, as a source for data collection. It verifies and analyses previously established predictors of success and furthermore generates additional insights into the dynamics of crowdfunding. The findings of the empirical analysis of the study lead to the development of a new conceptual model of factors influencing funding success. This model contributes to and further develops existing theoretical frameworks by underlining the importance of audience increasing factors, such as a broad range of reward categories and the availability of project descriptions in more than one language. Furthermore, the model pinpoints the importance of the perceived feasibility of a crowdfunding project, supported by frequent news updates and a realistic funding goal, in order to ensure backers' support and achieve funding success.