Crowdfunding - Loyalty and Commitment

Abstract: Crowdfunding is an important and interesting phenomenon in today's digital economy. It uses the masses for funding new projects and offer small rewards in return to supporting funders. There is a trend where consumers desire to become more involved in the innovative process held by producers. At the same time, lack of funding is one of the main reasons for startup failure. These are two of the many reasons why crowdfunding is significant. This thesis aims to investigate if crowdfunding creates loyalty and commitment among funders. An experiment was carried out, to investigate this, by simulating scenarios both with and without crowdfunding. The results showed that one of the main aspects related to crowdfunding, to fund instead of buy, increased loyalty and commitment. In a wider perspective, the study suggests that this funding method is favorable to engage in from a marketing perspective. Startups can come across funders that are loyal and committed, and even pay to be it.