סמינר בניהול טכנולוגיה ומערכות מידע

הסמינר יינתן ע"י ערן דיארי,

תלמיד בתכנית מלמ"ן ניהול טכנולוגיה ומערכות מידע בפקולטה לניהול, שיציג  את עבודת התזה שלו בהנחיית ד"ר אוהד ברזילי

Abstract

Crowdfunding platforms, such as Kickstarter, enable entrepreneurs to manage online fundraising campaigns. The dynamics of online fundraising efforts are rich and complex, and they differ significantly from their offline counterparts. Consequently, the literature is still lagging behind the technology in understanding the mechanisms that drive online crowdfunding success. Specifically, it is still not clear what metric is the most predictive to estimate crowdfunding campaign progress; whether it is the amount of money raised, the number of backers supporting the project, specific properties of early backers, the rate at which funds are accumulated, and so on.

This study aspires to broaden our understanding of the mechanics of crowdfunding campaigns by comparing the performance of two alternative crowdfunding trajectories at an early stage: (1) raising funds from a large base of supporters, each contributing a relatively small amount, and (2) raising the same total amount of money, but from fewer supporters, each contributing a larger amount. We studied campaigns in their initial stage, immediately after 5% of the target goal had been raised, and estimated an econometric model to predict campaign success. We found that projects that were supported by a larger number of early backers were more likely to reach fundraising goals than campaigns that raised the same total amount, but from fewer early backers. The results were consistent across different success metrics. I will explain our findings using the theory of word of mouth and early adopters, and provide empirical evidence that may be used as a first step toward identifying the causality channels linking the number of early backers to campaign success. Practical implications will also be discussed.