Love cannot buy you money: Resource exchange on <scp><b>reward‐based</b></scp> crowdfunding platforms
Authors: James, Tabitha L.; Shen, Wenqi; Townsend, David M.; Junkunc, Marc; Wallace, Linda
Journal: Information Systems Journal (2021)
DOI: 10.1111/isj.12321
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Reward‐based crowdfunding platforms – in which campaigns exchange rewards for financial backing to develop a product or service – are one of the fastest‐growing segments of the crowdfunding industry. We use an extension of social exchange theory (SET) called the resource theory of social exchange (RTSE) to examine resource exchanges through rewards on Kickstarter. A resource exchange occurs when a project backer and project creator exchange money (ie, financial backing) for a reward (eg, a thank you or a t‐shirt). A project creator can develop a reward portfolio that contains various types of resources, which in the RTSE are categorised as love, status, information, money, goods and services. Our study provides a comprehensive examination of resource exchange on a major reward‐based crowd funding platform, answering the call to investigate the effects of a key element of such platforms – rewards. We find that the types of resources project creators include in the reward portfolios they offer should be carefully considered. Specifically, our results indicate it is more beneficial to offer rewards that contain universal and concrete resources…