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The Right Time for Crowd Communication during Campaigns for Sustainable Success of Crowdfunding: Evidence from Kickstarter Platform

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  • Michael J. Ryoba

    (Department of System Science, Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200000, China
    Department of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Dar es Salaam University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 2329 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)

  • Shaojian Qu

    (Department of System Science, Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200000, China
    Department of Decision, Management Engineering School, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210000, China)

  • Ying Ji

    (Department of System Science, Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200000, China)

  • Deqiang Qu

    (Department of System Science, Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200000, China)

Abstract

Only a small percentage of crowdfunding projects succeed in securing funds, the fact of which puts the sustainability of crowdfunding platforms at risk. Researchers have examined the influences of phased aspects of communication, drawn from updates and comments, on success of crowdfunding campaigns, but in most cases they have focused on the combined effects of the aspects. This paper investigated campaign success contribution of various combinations of phased communication aspects from updates and comments, the best of which can help creators to successfully manage campaigns by focusing on the important communication aspects. Metaheuristic and machine learning algorithms were used to search and evaluate the best combination of phased communication aspects for predicting success using Kickstarter dataset. The study found that the number of updates in phase one, the polarity of comments in phase two, readability of updates and polarity of comments in phase three, and the polarity of comments in phase five are the most important communication aspects in predicting campaign success. Moreover, the success prediction accuracy with the aspects identified after phasing is more than the baseline model without phasing. Our findings can help crowdfunding actors to focus on the important communication aspects leading to improved likelihood of success.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael J. Ryoba & Shaojian Qu & Ying Ji & Deqiang Qu, 2020. "The Right Time for Crowd Communication during Campaigns for Sustainable Success of Crowdfunding: Evidence from Kickstarter Platform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-22, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7642-:d:414397
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Peter Konhäusner, 2021. "Crowdsourcing in Sustainable Retail—A Theoretical Framework of Success Criteria," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-21, February.
    3. Agnieszka Szewczyk & Zbigniew Stempnakowski, 2021. "Social Energy as the Driving Force behind Crowdfunding—Analysis and Classification of Selected Attributes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-32, September.
    4. René Vásquez-Ordóñez, Luis & Lassala, Carlos & Ulrich, Klaus & Ribeiro-Navarrete, Samuel, 2023. "Efficiency factors in the financing of renewable energy projects through crowdlending," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    5. Han-Chiang Ho & Candy Lim Chiu & Somkiat Mansumitrchai & Zhengqing Yuan & Nan Zhao & Jiajie Zou, 2021. "The Influence of Signals on Donation Crowdfunding Campaign Success during COVID-19 Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-25, July.
    6. Sven Siebeneicher & Ilker Yenice & Carolin Bock, 2022. "Financial-Return Crowdfunding for Energy and Sustainability in the German-Speaking Realm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-23, September.
    7. Irene Comeig & Ernesto Mesa-Vázquez & Pau Sendra-Pons & Amparo Urbano, 2020. "Rational Herding in Reward-Based Crowdfunding: An MTurk Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-21, November.
    8. Oguzhan Aygoren & Stefan Koch, 2021. "Community Support or Funding Amount: Actual Contribution of Reward-Based Crowdfunding to Market Success of Video Game Projects on Kickstarter," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Lingfei Deng & Qiang Ye & DaPeng Xu & Wenjun Sun & Guangxin Jiang, 2022. "A literature review and integrated framework for the determinants of crowdfunding success," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-70, December.

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