Journal article 110 views 41 downloads
Signalling entrepreneurs’ credibility and project quality for crowdfunding success: cases from the Kickstarter and Indiegogo environments
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David Pickernell ,
Martina Battisti,
Thang Nguyen
Small Business Economics, Volume: 58, Issue: 4, Pages: 1801 - 1821
Swansea University Author:
David Pickernell
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Copyright: The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s11187-021-00477-6
Abstract
In recent years, entrepreneurs have increasingly turned to crowdfunding, a new form of entrepreneurial finance, to fund projects. Whilst research has shown that signals originating fromthe entrepreneur and project can affect the outcome of crowdfunding, how different signals work together under diff...
| Published in: | Small Business Economics |
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| ISSN: | 0921-898X 1573-0913 |
| Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2022
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61219 |
| Abstract: |
In recent years, entrepreneurs have increasingly turned to crowdfunding, a new form of entrepreneurial finance, to fund projects. Whilst research has shown that signals originating fromthe entrepreneur and project can affect the outcome of crowdfunding, how different signals work together under different signalling environments remains underexplored. Drawing on signalling theory, we examine how signals of entrepreneurs’ credibility (success, failure, backer and industry experience) and project quality (preparedness and thirdparty endorsements) produce crowdfunding success in different signalling environments. We collected a unique dataset with matched projects listed on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but with different funding models, to represent two distinct signalling environments. Results based on qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) identify two distinct signalling patterns that show entrepreneur’s credibility and project quality signals can complement each other to produce crowdfunding success. In an environment with less uncertainty, entrepreneur’s credibility in terms of crowdfunding experience can also compensate absent project quality to produce crowdfunding success. In an environment with higher uncertainty, entrepreneur’s credibility and project quality need to be both present to establish the necessary legitimacy for crowdfunding to be successful. Furthermore, by integrating positive (i.e. success) and negative (i.e. failure) signals, we demonstrate how signal incongruence can enhance crowdfunding success. |
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| Keywords: |
Crowdfunding; Signalling theory; Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA); Kickstarter; Indiegogo; Entrepreneurial Finance |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Issue: |
4 |
| Start Page: |
1801 |
| End Page: |
1821 |