Abstract:
Crowdfunding was initially presented as a fundraising tool and an alternative
financial instrument that enables SMEs to collect the needed funds directly from the
public. However, this financial instrument has many collateral advantages that needs
to be studied.The purpose of this study is, first, to introduce the crowdfunding
phenomenon in a simplified way through its basis, types, and perspectives to help to
its implementation especially in developing countries. Second, to understand how it
can be used as a marketing tool, and finally, to study the independent variables that
contribute to the success of a crowdfunding campaign.
In order to achieve these objectives, the study is divided into a theoretical section;
where the bases of crowdfunding, its different types and its marketing assets have
been drawn from the existing related literature; and an empirical section that studies
the factors that potentially contribute to the success of a crowdfunding campaign. In
this context, the factors affecting the success of a campaign were grouped into three
major ones: Financial & Reward dimension, Quality dimension and Relational
dimension. In order to study the relationship and interaction between these variables
and the success of the campaigns, data were collected from 602 published project on
the international platform Kickstarter and analyzed using SPSS software.
The results indicates that even if the three dimensions have a significant impact on
the success of a campaign, the financial dimension have the highest weigh in the
equation. The study also shows that there is a need to more empirical research to
better understand the Turkish context.
