Crowdfunding: A quantitative study of the correlation between social media use and technology project outcomes.

摘要

Historically, business owners rely on traditional methods of capital acquisition, such as loans, grants, angel financing, and/or venture capital. Despite these resources, many technology-focused entrepreneurs still struggle to find sufficient funding to launch a startup project or idea. In response, crowdfunding, an online method of capital acquisition, emerged in 2008. It allows IT entrepreneurs to seek funding online from several small donors. However, crowdfunding project owners who merely adopt a "build it and they will come" attitude have a high likelihood of failure. To combat these challenges, popular websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo provide unique platforms with varying marketing tools for entrepreneurs to promote their projects and attract backers. While crowdfunding has successfully funded thousands of projects for millions of dollars, little systematic research has been conducted. In particular, no studies have examined the relationship between the use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Google+) and technology project outcomes. In response, a quantitative study with a correlation design was used to test the relationships between a project's social media promotion, length, funding goal, and technology project outcomes. Data from 461 Indiegogo project pages revealed that among the three predictor variables, social media sharing was the best for forecasting crowdfunding outcomes. This finding supports the notion that when crowdfunding, simply "building it" is not enough. Project owners should adopt a "build it, share it, and they will come" mentality.