IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v45y2021i3p531-561.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

I Am What I Pledge: The Importance of Value Alignment for Mobilizing Backers in Reward-Based Crowdfunding

Author

Listed:
  • Kristian Roed Nielsen
  • Julia Katharina Binder

Abstract

Crowdfunding has emerged as an important alternative financing tool for entrepreneurs. Extant research on the antecedents of crowdfunding success have produced divergent results. By applying the cross-disciplinary lens of strategic linguistic framing, that is, framing campaign messages in a way that is salient and that resonates with the values of the audience, we experimentally examine the role of value framing for a successful campaign outcome. Our results indicate that altruistically framed campaigns have a higher chance for funding compared to campaigns that emphasize egoistic or environmental motives, but even more importantly, that message framing needs to be aligned with the personal values of the backers. As such, our study highlights important similarities between resource mobilization in social movements and in crowdfunding.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristian Roed Nielsen & Julia Katharina Binder, 2021. "I Am What I Pledge: The Importance of Value Alignment for Mobilizing Backers in Reward-Based Crowdfunding," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(3), pages 531-561, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:45:y:2021:i:3:p:531-561
    DOI: 10.1177/1042258720929888
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1042258720929888
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1042258720929888?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank Martin Belz & Julia Katharina Binder, 2017. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A Convergent Process Model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Thomas H. Allison & Blakley C. Davis & Jeremy C. Short & Justin W. Webb, 2015. "Crowdfunding in a Prosocial Microlending Environment: Examining the Role of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Cues," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(1), pages 53-73, January.
    3. Zhang, Haisu & Chen, Weizhi, 2019. "Crowdfunding technological innovations: Interaction between consumer benefits and rewards," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 84, pages 11-20.
    4. Gordon Burtch & Anindya Ghose & Sunil Wattal, 2013. "An Empirical Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Contribution Patterns in Crowd-Funded Markets," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 499-519, September.
    5. Editors The, 2008. "From the Editors," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-1, July.
    6. Othmar M. Lehner & Alex Nicholls, 2014. "Social finance and crowdfunding for social enterprises: a public-private case study providing legitimacy and leverage," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 271-286, July.
    7. Vismara, Silvio, 2019. "Sustainability in equity crowdfunding," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 98-106.
    8. Nielsen, Kristian Roed, 2018. "Crowdfunding through a partial organization lens – The co-dependent organization," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 695-707.
    9. Garry Bruton & Susanna Khavul & Donald Siegel & Mike Wright, 2015. "New Financial Alternatives in Seeding Entrepreneurship: Microfinance, Crowdfunding, and Peer–to–Peer Innovations," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(1), pages 9-26, January.
    10. Sucheta Nadkarni & V. K. Narayanan, 2007. "The Evolution of Collective Strategy Frames in High- and Low-Velocity Industries," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 688-710, August.
    11. Robert Strand & R. Freeman & Kai Hockerts, 2015. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in Scandinavia: An Overview," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 1-15, March.
    12. Goran Calic & Elaine Mosakowski, 2016. "Kicking Off Social Entrepreneurship: How A Sustainability Orientation Influences Crowdfunding Success," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 738-767, July.
    13. Lagazio, Corrado & Querci, Francesca, 2018. "Exploring the multi-sided nature of crowdfunding campaign success," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 318-324.
    14. Sarah Kaplan, 2008. "Framing Contests: Strategy Making Under Uncertainty," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(5), pages 729-752, October.
    15. Magdalena Cholakova & Bart Clarysse, 2015. "Does the Possibility to Make Equity Investments in Crowdfunding Projects Crowd Out Reward–Based Investments?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(1), pages 145-172, January.
    16. Grégoire, Denis A. & Binder, Julia K. & Rauch, Andreas, 2019. "Navigating the validity tradeoffs of entrepreneurship research experiments: A systematic review and best-practice suggestions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 284-310.
    17. Stevenson, Regan M. & Ciuchta, Michael P. & Letwin, Chaim & Dinger, Jenni M. & Vancouver, Jeffrey B., 2019. "Out of control or right on the money? Funder self-efficacy and crowd bias in equity crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 348-367.
    18. Roma, Paolo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Perrone, Giovanni, 2017. "From the crowd to the market: The role of reward-based crowdfunding performance in attracting professional investors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1606-1628.
    19. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02312342, HAL.
    20. Aaron F. McKenny & Thomas H. Allison & David J. Ketchen Jr. & Jeremy C. Short & R. Duane Ireland, 2017. "How Should Crowdfunding Research Evolve? A Survey of the Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Editorial Board," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(2), pages 291-304, March.
    21. Yu, Sandy & Johnson, Scott & Lai, Chiayu & Cricelli, Antonio & Fleming, Lee, 2017. "Crowdfunding and regional entrepreneurial investment: an application of the CrowdBerkeley database," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1723-1737.
    22. Jeremy C. Short & David J. Ketchen Jr. & Aaron F. McKenny & Thomas H. Allison & R. Duane Ireland, 2017. "Research on Crowdfunding: Reviewing the (Very Recent) past and Celebrating the Present," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(2), pages 149-160, March.
    23. Corazzini, Luca & Cotton, Christopher & Valbonesi, Paola, 2015. "Donor coordination in project funding: Evidence from a threshold public goods experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 16-29.
    24. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02276730, HAL.
    25. Editors The, 2008. "From the Editors," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 2(2), pages 1-3, January.
    26. James P. Walsh, 1995. "Managerial and Organizational Cognition: Notes from a Trip Down Memory Lane," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(3), pages 280-321, June.
    27. Simona Giorgi, 2017. "The Mind and Heart of Resonance: The Role of Cognition and Emotions in Frame Effectiveness," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 711-738, July.
    28. Othmar M. Lehner, 2013. "Crowdfunding social ventures: a model and research agenda," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 289-311, October.
    29. Fisher, Greg & Kuratko, Donald F. & Bloodgood, James M. & Hornsby, Jeffrey S., 2017. "Legitimate to whom? The challenge of audience diversity and new venture legitimacy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 52-71.
    30. Mollick, Ethan, 2014. "The dynamics of crowdfunding: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-16.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zineb Aouni & Marek Hudon & Anaïs A Périlleux & Tyler Wry, 2024. "Crowdfunding social ventures: who rewards (or punishes) hybridity?," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/367191, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Stavros Sindakis & Saloome Showkat & Jiafu Su, 2023. "Unveiling the Influence: Exploring the Impact of Interrelationships among E-Commerce Supply Chain Members on Supply Chain Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-27, December.
    3. Zineb Aouni & Marek Hudon & Anaïs A Périlleux & Tyler Wry, 2024. "Crowdfunding social ventures: Who will reward (or punish) hybridity?," Working Papers CEB 24-004, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Jiao, Hao & Wang, Lindong & Yang, Jifeng, 2023. "Standing head and shoulders above others? Complementor experience-based design and crowdfunding success on digital platforms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Seigner, Benedikt David Christian & McKenny, Aaron F. & Reetz, David K., 2024. "Old but gold? Examining the effect of age bias in reward-based crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(3).
    6. Chaim Letwin & Michael P. Ciuchta & Michael Johnson & Regan Stevenson & Cameron Ford, 2024. "Passion and attractiveness on display: an examination of gender bias in crowdfunding," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 165-192, June.
    7. Kai Hockerts & Lisa Hehenberger & Stefan Schaltegger & Vanina Farber, 2022. "Defining and Conceptualizing Impact Investing: Attractive Nuisance or Catalyst?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(4), pages 937-950, September.
    8. Nesij Huvaj, M. & Darmody, Aron & Smith, Robert S., 2023. "Psychological ownership and disownership in reward-based crowdfunding," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    9. Junge, Louise Bech & Laursen, Iben Cleveland & Nielsen, Kristian Roed, 2022. "Choosing crowdfunding: Why do entrepreneurs choose to engage in crowdfunding?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    10. Megan Yuan Li & Charson Cancan Dong & Shige Makino, 2023. "Does a Past Category’s Success Influence Existing Entrepreneurial Fundraising?: A Legitimacy Spillover Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2263-2292, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Constantin von Selasinsky & Eva Lutz, 2021. "The Effects of Pro-Social and Pro-Environmental Orientation on Crowdfunding Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-27, May.
    2. Stefania Testa & Paolo Roma & Maria Vasi & Silvano Cincotti, 2020. "Crowdfunding as a tool to support sustainability‐oriented initiatives: Preliminary insights into the role of product/service attributes," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 530-546, February.
    3. Bagheri, Afsaneh & Chitsazan, Hasti & Ebrahimi, Ashkan, 2019. "Crowdfunding motivations: A focus on donors' perspectives," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 218-232.
    4. Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Natalicchio, Angelo & Panniello, Umberto & Roma, Paolo, 2019. "Understanding the crowdfunding phenomenon and its implications for sustainability," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 138-148.
    5. Junge, Louise Bech & Laursen, Iben Cleveland & Nielsen, Kristian Roed, 2022. "Choosing crowdfunding: Why do entrepreneurs choose to engage in crowdfunding?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Tanja Jovanović, 2019. "Crowdfunding: What Do We Know So Far?," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(01), pages 1-25, February.
    7. Xiaobei Liang & Xiaojuan Hu & Jiang Jiang, 2020. "Research on the Effects of Information Description on Crowdfunding Success within a Sustainable Economy—The Perspective of Information Communication," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-36, January.
    8. Berns, John P. & Jia, Yankun & Gondo, Maria, 2022. "Crowdfunding success in sustainability-oriented projects: An exploratory examination of the crowdfunding of 3D printers," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    9. Allison, Thomas H. & Davis, Blakley C. & Webb, Justin W. & Short, Jeremy C., 2017. "Persuasion in crowdfunding: An elaboration likelihood model of crowdfunding performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 707-725.
    10. Laurell, Christofer & Sandström, Christian & Suseno, Yuliani, 2019. "Assessing the interplay between crowdfunding and sustainability in social media," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 117-127.
    11. W. Cai & F.H.J. Polzin & F.C. Stam, 2019. "Crowdfunding and Social Capital: A Systematic Literature Review," Working Papers 19-05, Utrecht School of Economics.
    12. Veronica Crescenzo & Angelo Bonfanti & Paola Castellani & Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez, 2022. "Effective entrepreneurial narrative design in reward crowdfunding campaigns for social ventures," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 773-800, June.
    13. Testa, Stefania & Nielsen, Kristian Roed & Bogers, Marcel & Cincotti, Silvano, 2019. "The role of crowdfunding in moving towards a sustainable society," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 66-73.
    14. Yasar, Burze & Sevilay Yılmaz, Işıl & Hatipoğlu, Nurullah & Salih, Aslıhan, 2022. "Stretching the success in reward-based crowdfunding," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 205-220.
    15. John P. Berns & Maria Figueroa-Armijos & Serge P. da Motta Veiga & Timothy C. Dunne, 2020. "Dynamics of Lending-Based Prosocial Crowdfunding: Using a Social Responsibility Lens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 169-185, January.
    16. Penz, R. Frederic & Hörisch, Jacob & Tenner, Isabell, 2022. "Investors in environmental ventures want good money—and a clean conscience: How framing, interest rates, and the environmental impact of crowdlending projects influence funding decisions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    17. Hadar Gafni & Marek Hudon & Anaïs Périlleux, 2021. "Business or Basic Needs? The Impact of Loan Purpose on Social Crowdfunding Platforms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 777-793, November.
    18. Maria Figueroa-Armijos & John P. Berns, 2022. "Vulnerable Populations and Individual Social Responsibility in Prosocial Crowdfunding: Does the Framing Matter for Female and Rural Entrepreneurs?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 377-394, May.
    19. Friedemann Polzin & Helen Toxopeus & Erik Stam, 2018. "The wisdom of the crowd in funding: information heterogeneity and social networks of crowdfunders," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 251-273, February.
    20. Fabrice Hervé & Armin Schwienbacher, 2018. "Crowdfunding And Innovation," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 1514-1530, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:45:y:2021:i:3:p:531-561. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.