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Several biases are known to influence funding decisions in crowdfunding. Among these biases is herding behavior; that is, the tendency to imitate the funding decisions of others. Herding is a very robust phenomenon in crowdfunding and uniformly characterized as a positive reinforcement effect. We challenge this characterization and ask whether the funding decisions of others may in fact have a negative effect and lead to a reduction of follow-up funding decisions if they are very small – a phenomenon to which we refer as reverse herding. We conducted a field experiment at a reward-based crowdfunding platform by randomly contributing small funding amounts to some campaigns while keeping track of a non-manipulated control group. Our findings support the notion of reverse herding. The number and amount of contributions by the crowd following our small funding amounts were fewer and smaller than in the control group. We discuss reverse herding in relation to established crowdfunding concepts and formulate a dilemma of small contributions: Although small contributions are a fundamental part of crowdfunding, they can also cause the detrimental effect of reverse herding. Practical and theoretical implications of reverse herding are discussed and several opportunities for future research are outlined.

While firms have obtained outside financing from large numbers of investors on financial markets for centuries, online crowdfunding platforms have only emerged as a major source of funding for start-ups and new projects for a decade. The information available to backers on crowdfunding platforms is generally coarse. This paper surveys the existing literature on the extent to which crowdfunding harnesses the wisdom of crowds. We discuss two broad categories of crowdfunding. Reward-based crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, where backers typically have private and independent valuations, appear to offer environments that may harness the wisdom of crowds. In contrast, initial coin offerings (ICOs) offering services with network externalities and security-based platforms with common values appear to exhibit some results eliciting valuable information, but several results appear to point to informational cascades.

Mestrado em Gestão e Estratégia Industrial In this dissertation we develop a better understanding of a relatively new phenomenon known as crowdfunding. We start by shedding some light on its roadmap, namely how it became a mix of the traditional financing methods and crowdsourcing. Having many specialized variations, sometimes crowdfunding leans toward more financially focused projects, rivaling banking, business angels, capital ventures, etc., while sometimes it focusses on the development and pre-selling of new products. The latter is known as reward-based crowdfunding, in which this study is focused. A creator presents a product or idea in development to the general public (the crowd). Then, any individual maysupport the project by giving money to the creator in exchange for a future reward, typically the product itself. What we try to accomplish with this study is to better understand the dynamics of this complex environment, by examining which variables contribute to the degree of success of campaigns in general, but also if the dimension of the project changes its dynamics and the variables contributing to their success. Based on the existent literature, we build four linear regression models to test our hypotheses,using data gathered from Kickstart.com campaigns, where our dependent variable is the degree of success of a crowdfunding project. Our results suggest that indeed project dimensions affects the dynamics of what contributes to the degree of success of a campaign. Backer related variables are almost always significant, but in the case of the number of backers supporting the campaign at day 1, depending on the project dimension, the contribution changes from negative to positive. Structure, communication, creator, and popularity related variables are also sensitive to project dimensions, especially their significance. With this study we contribute to a better understanding of the crowdfunding phenomenon, with theoretical and managerial implications and leave suggestions for future research on the topic. Com esta dissertação desenvolvemos uma melhor compreensão acerca de um fenómeno relativamente novo, conhecido como crowdfunding. Começamos por examinar o seu desenvolvimento, nomeadamente como se tornou uma mistura entre os métodos de financiamento tradicionais e o crowdsourcing. Por vezes o crowdfunding assemelha-se mais a projetos de foco financeiro, rivalizando o papel de bancos, business angels, capital de risco, etc., outras vezes foca-se mais no desenvolvimento e na pré-venda de novos produtos. Esta última tipologia é conhecida como crowdfunding baseado em recompensas, no qual este estudo se concentra. Um criador apresenta um produto ou ideia em desenvolvimento ao público em geral (a crowd ou multidão). Posteriormente,qualquer indivíduo pode apoiar o projeto doando dinheiro ao criador em troca de uma recompensa futura, normalmente o próprio produto. O que pretendemos com este estudo é compreender melhor a dinâmica deste ambiente complexo, examinando quais as variáveis que contribuem para o grau de sucesso das campanhas em geral, mas também se a dimensão do projeto muda a sua dinâmica e as variáveis que contribuem para seu sucesso. Com base na literatura existente, construímos quatro modelos de regressão linear para testar as nossas hipóteses, utilizando dados retirados de campanhas no Kickstarter.com, sendo a nossa variável dependente o grau de sucesso de um projeto de crowdfunding. Os nossos resultados sugerem que a dimensão dos projetos afeta a suadinâmica e os fatores contributivos para o seu grau de sucesso. Variáveis relacionadas com os apoiantes das campanhas são quase sempre significativas, mas a contribuição donúmero de apoiantes que apoiam o projeto no primeiro dia da campanha muda de negativa para positiva, dependendo da dimensão do projeto. Variáveis relacionadas com a estrutura, comunicação, criador e popularidade são também sensíveis às dimensões do projeto, especialmente quanto à sua significância estatística. Com este estudo contribuímos assim para uma melhor compreensão do crowdfunding, com implicações teóricas e de gestão, deixando sugestões para investigação futura sobre o tema. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Purpose: The factors determining the success of crowdfunding projects is one of the central aspects for crowdfunding researchers. Most quantitative approaches recognize the amount of funds targeted as an important control. However, little is known about the impact of the funding goal on other factors that impact crowdfunding success. We hypothesize that the effect of crowdfunding success factors might vary dependent on funding goal level. Design/methodology/approach: A dataset of 338 crowdfunding projects on the German crowdfunding platform StartNext, with a vast majority of projects founded in Germany and a few projects from international European founders, in the years 2015 to 2016 is analysed by conducting regression analyses controlling for varying funding goal sizes. We use the dependent variables success, the degree of success, number of project supporters and the average contribution per supporter and control whether the effect of independent variables such as comments, updates and social media depend on different funding goals. Findings: Our study indicates that the impact of the investigated success factors in fact strongly depends on the goal sizes of crowdfunding projects. By grouping projects into clusters of varying funding goal sizes, we find that the impact of individual success factors changes and that the funding goal plays a moderating role for factors impacting project success. Research/practical implications: These results help both researchers and future entrepreneurs to better understand supporter behaviour. First, we suggest researchers to include the projects’ funding goals as moderators in most cases especially when assessing success factors for crowdfunding projects. Second, future entrepreneurs should be aware that factors influencing the success of a crowdfunding project strongly depend on the set funding goal. Depending on funding goal, some factors become less relevant whilst other factors’ importance is increasing. Originality/value: The funding goal of a crowdfunding project determines whether instruments used by project founders have an impact on their project’s success. Although the funding goal is a central issue in crowdfunding research, it is often used as independent variable, in contrast we suggest incorporating it as a moderator for other success factors.

This article analyzes the determinants of successful crowdfunding initiatives using a sample of 5,251 projects from the reward-based Spanish platform Verkami. In contrast to most of the literature that has measured success with a dichotomous variable, we approach success with a continuous one, namely the ratio of achievement, which is measured as the obtained resources over the total amount requested by the promoter. We consider a set of potential determinants of success, which are theoretically well-grounded and cover a variety of spheres related to project features. Results suggest that factors related to the signaling theories such as partnership, having previous experience and interaction with backers are positively associated with the achievement ratio, whereas no significant impact is found for the number of rewards. In addition, we find uneven effects for low and high ratios of achievement, identifying the key determinants in different project stages. JEL CLASSIFICATION D26; G29; L26; L86; M13; M21

Crowdfunding represents an alternative way of funding entrepreneurial ventures – and is attracting a high amount of interest in research as well as practice. Against this background, this paper analyzes reward-based crowdfunding campaign strategies and their communication tools. To do this, 446 crowdfunding projects were gathered and empirically analyzed. Three different paths of successful crowdfunding projects could be identified and are described in detail. Practical implications of crowdfunding strategies are derived, and are dependent on the required sales effort and the project added value. The terms communicator, networker and self-runner are created for this crowdfunding strategy and filled with practical examples. This paper contributes to the literature in different ways: first, it sheds more light on the developing concept of crowdfunding, with an overview of current academic discussions on crowdfunding. Furthermore, the analysis of success factors for crowdfunding initiatives adds to an emerging area of research and allows entrepreneurs to extract best practice examples for increasing the probability of successful crowdfunding projects under consideration of the key influencing factors of communication.

Simple Summary Companion animals play an important role in the lives of New Zealanders. Animals’ guardians often engage professional behaviour and training support to ensure their companion animal’s behaviour is compatible with their lifestyle and expectations. The methods these professionals use vary substantially and potentially subject animals to psychological (and physical) harm where outdated, incorrect or aversive methods of training or equipment are used. The national regulation of training methods or techniques would safeguard the welfare of the animal benefactors of these services. In the absence of such regulation, the development of a national accreditation body may act to protect animal welfare by certifying the experience, qualifications and training methods of the professionals offering these services. We investigated industry opinion and readiness for the establishment of an accreditation body via an online survey and found that accreditation, promoting the use of reward-based training and behavioural modification techniques, was generally supported. We conclude that the establishment of a national accreditation body would ensure that those seeking services source professionals who use best practice when it comes to training and behavioural modification, resulting in lasting benefits to animal welfare. Abstract Companion animals are at risk of psychological (and physical) harm if outdated, incorrect or aversive methods of training or equipment are used during training and behavioural modification. Companion animal guardians often engage professional animal behaviour and training services, yet this industry is not regulated in New Zealand. A voluntary national accreditation and registration programme could act to protect the welfare of animals by robustly evaluating the experience, qualifications and training methods of industry professionals. To investigate industry readiness for a national accreditation programme, we conducted an online survey and analysed the responses of 262 animal trainers, behavioural consultants, dog safety educators, veterinarians and veterinary nurses. A national accreditation programme, promoting the use of reward-based training and behavioural modification techniques, was generally supported, especially by individuals holding qualifications and membership of professional organisations. The implementation of such a programme would ensure that those seeking these services are able to source professionals that use best practice when it comes to training and behavioural modification, with lasting benefits to animal welfare.

Il crowdfunding si afferma sempre più come modello sociale e di organizzazione dei rapporti economici, utile al finanziamento di attività produttive di carattere innovativo, come anche di progetti di utilità sociale. La varietà degli scopi che possono essere realizzati con queste forme di finanziamento di massa non consente di ricondurre il fenomeno ad una disciplina unitaria, né dal punto di vista civilistico né, tantomeno, fiscale. Il lavoro si propone di utilizzare gli strumenti dell’interpretazione per ricondurre i diversi modelli di crowdfunding a tipologie contrattuali già presenti nell’ordinamento, così da consentire una coerente applicazione dei regimi fiscali corrispondenti. L’individuazione del regime fiscale applicabile ai diversi modelli di equity, lending, reward-based e donation-based crowdfunding si fonda sull’interpretazione contrattuale e sulla combinazione degli elementi oggettivi e soggettivi che caratterizzano ciascuna di queste esperienze.

Crowdfunding combines social networking with microfinance in a method of financing new ventures that has become increasingly popular. Crowdfunding offers entrepreneurs an opportunity to find a large number of investors for projects, but many campaigns tend to remain unfunded. This study’s main objective was to access the main success drivers of crowdfunded projects, focusing, in particular, on sports projects. The dataset comprised 4,952 donationand rewards-based projects launched in three platforms. Two models were estimated to explain both the success over failure rate and overfunding of crowdfunding projects in terms of specific campaign characteristics. The results reveal that higher project funding goals are correlated with a lower probability of success and overfunding, while successful projects are associated with a higher number of backers and flexible funding. Donation-based projects appear to increase the likelihood of success compared with reward-based projects. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Aims/Introduction The purpose of the study was to determine the feasibility and effect of a reward-based, task-setting strategy for low-income outpatients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods Indigent diabetes outpatients without glucometers were eligible to participate in this trial. A total of 132 cases were randomly recruited. Participants in group B used glucometers for self-monitoring at no cost. Group A participants could keep the glucometers only if the glycosylated hemoglobin level declined compared with the baseline visit; for those not achieving a reduction in the glycosylated hemoglobin level, the glucometers would have to be returned. Group C served as the control group without self-monitoring setout. Diabetes education was provided to all groups. Metabolic indices and self-management were evaluated after 6 months of follow up. Results Group A had a significant decline in the glycosylated hemoglobin level (−0.97%) and medical costs (−159 yuan) compared with the baseline visit, whereas groups B and C had a decrease in the glycosylated hemoglobin levels alone (−0.62 and −0.57%, respectively). The body mass index did not change significantly in any group. There was a statistical difference in the glycosylated hemoglobin level of group A compared with groups B and C. Self-management in group A improved the outcome relative to groups B and C. Conclusions This preliminary evidence suggests that the program is feasible, acceptable for improving patient self-management, and cost-effective in reducing the glycosylated hemoglobin level and medical costs.

Crowdfunding is a phenomenon that is subject to a great growth during the recent years, and the growth rate doesn't seem to stagnate. When new legislation named the JOBS Act in the U.S. becomes effective in late 2015, crowd equity will surely become a popular tool for financing businesses. Because crowdfunding great popularity is caused by the possibility to reach out to crowds through the internet, it is a global phenomenon, why it's relevant to examine current legislations in jurisdictions. This thesis covers an examination of Swedish laws of how they govern crowdfunding, and also suggestions on how the laws should be changed to more efficiently correspond with the purposes of crowdfunding.

One hallmark of gambling disorder is the observation that gamblers have problems stopping their gambling behavior once it is initiated. On a neuropsychological level it has been hypothesized that this is the result of a cognitive inflexibility. The present study investigated cognitive inflexibility in patients with gambling disorder using a task involving cognitive inflexibility with a reward element (i.e., reversal learning) and a task measuring general cognitive inflexibility without such a component (i.e., response perseveration). For this purpose, scores of a reward-based reversal learning task (Probabilistic Reversal Learning Task) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task were compared between a group of treatment seeking patients with gambling disorder and a gender and age matched control group. The results show that pathological gamblers have impaired performance on the neurocognitive task measuring reward based cognitive inflexibility. However, no difference between the groups is observed regarding non-reward based cognitive inflexibility. This suggests that cognitive inflexibility in gambling disorder is the result of an aberrant reward-based learning, and not based on a more general problem with cognitive flexibility. The pattern of observed problems is suggestive of a dysfunction of the orbitofrontal cortex, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the ventral regions of the striatum in gamblers. Relevance for the neurocognition of problematic gambling is discussed.