Crowdfunding as a facilitator for Value Co-Creation : A Qualitative Case Study from a Service-Dominant Logic Perspective

Abstract: The purpose of the study is to examine how the crowdfunding context facilitates value co-creation from a service-dominant logic perspective. Previous studies on crowdfunding have focused on crowdfunding as a way to raise capital, but there is a need to examine how value is created from a service-dominant logic perspective to understand the crowdfunding context. This has been examined through an embedded case study on the Swedish crowdfunding market, consisting of three crowdfunded companies and two branch experts. The study finds that the crowdfunding context facilitates value co-creation by engaging the involved actors in value co-creating activities, where both actors benefit. Community creation was found to be vital for the crowdfunding context while being important in the value co-creation process. The study contributes to the crowdfunding literature by adding an understanding of how the crowdfunding context facilitates value co-creation, by applying a service-dominant logic perspective, showing how the crowdfunding context includes more than financial aspects. The study also contributes to the service-dominant logic discussion by enabling future research in a new empirical setting. Finally, from a managerial point of view, the study contributes to how crowdfunding has additional benefits beyond raising capital, such as how the actors can co-create value.