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Crowdfund smart, not hard – Understanding the role of online funding communities in crowdfunding success

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  • Hassna, Ghazwan

Abstract

One of the unique characteristics of crowdfunding is that funding flows from the online community of individuals and organizations who identify with the campaign and are most interested in its viability and success. Most of these online funding communities (OFCs) are built around common shared goals, ideologies, enthusiasm for, or interests in specific funding activities. Despite this uniqueness, we understand little about the role that these communities play in crowdfunding success. Utilizing a rich dataset integrated from one of the most popular crowdfunding platforms in the UK, we explain how targeting an OFC positively influences crowdfunding success. Following a text similarity approach, we also provide evidence that the congruence between the crowdfunding campaign and targeted OFC is associated with higher success rate. We discuss the contribution to the academic literature on entrepreneurial finance and crowdfunding success as well as the practical implications for entrepreneurs interested in tapping the potential of crowdfunding as an alternative source of financing.

Suggested Citation

  • Hassna, Ghazwan, 2022. "Crowdfund smart, not hard – Understanding the role of online funding communities in crowdfunding success," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:18:y:2022:i:c:s2352673422000518
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2022.e00353
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    References listed on IDEAS

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