Money is not everything: A typology of crowdfunding project creators

• Published in: The journal of strategic information systems Vol. 27; no. 4; pp. 350 - 368
• Main Authors: Ryu, Sunghan, Kim, Young-Gul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 01.12.2018; Elsevier Science SA
• Subjects: Creator; Crowdfunding; Entrepreneurship; Investor; Investors; Motivation; Typology; Crowdfunding; Creator; Typology; Motivation; Investor; Entrepreneurship
• ISSN: 0963-8687; 1873-1198
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsis.2018.10.004

•We identified 4 types of crowdfunding project creators based on their motivations.•They are social entrepreneur, fund seeker, indie producer, and daring dreamer.•Investors’ perception of project characteristics differs across creator types.•Critical project characteristics for better crowdfunding performance were examined. While studies focus on how crowdfunding promotes the launch of innovative products or services through two-sided (creator-investor) platforms and digital tools, knowledge on the creator-side motivation is limited. To address this knowledge gap, our study identifies four types of crowdfunding project creators—social entrepreneur, fund seeker, indie producer, and daring dreamer—based on four motivations—achievement, monetary need, prosociality, and relationship building. We also examine how crowdfunding projects’ characteristics differ by the creator type and which characteristics are critical for enhancing projects’ performance. The study extends crowdfunding literature by deepening knowledge of creator-side motivation and contributes to crowdfunding practices by suggesting platform operators ways to attract and promote different types of project creators.