Abstract
This chapter investigates the phenomenon of “Crowdfunding”, or the strategy of acquiring seed money with the help of the crowd of Internet users. This phenomenon has been made possible by societal and economical changes and, of course, technological innovations associated with “Web 2.0”. Crowdfunding is closely related to Crowdsourcing, for which reason both phenomena are discussed. This chapter seeks to define the concept of Crowdfunding, and based on this provides a more in-depth analysis of Crowdfunding functions for entrepreneurs beyond the act of funding.
Crowdfunding (quite similar to Crowdsourcing) entails four key functions: providing feedback or rather a transfer of knowledge, network building, evaluation of marketability and acquisition of first purchasers. Furthermore, the focus is on users as well in that this chapter will similarly address the question why users spend both time and money on something without receiving an adequate benefit for it. In respect of this, attention will be paid to the question why Crowdfunding, unlike Crowdsourcing, to date has not been criticised seriously.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agarwal, A., Catalini, C., & Goldfarb, A. (2011). The geography of crowdfunding. NBER working papers 16820, National Bureau of Economic Research (pp. 1–61).
Applehoff, D., da Costa, D., & Brettel, M. (2013). Crowdfunding und -investing in Start-up- und Seedingphasen junger Unternehmen. In F. Piller & D. Hilgers (Eds.), Praxishandbuch Technologietransfer (Innovative Methoden zum Transfer wissenschaftlicher Ergebnisse in die industrielle Anwendung, pp. 91–111). Düsseldorf: Symposion.
Bell, D. (1973). The coming of post-industrial society: A venture in social forecasting. New York: Basic Books.
Belleflamme, P., Lambert, T., & Schwienbacher, A. (2010). Crowdfunding: An industrial organization perspective. In: SSRN eLibrary, Online: http://economix.fr/pdf/workshops/2010_dbm/Belleflamme_al.pdf
Belleflamme, P., Lambert, T., & Schwienbacher, A. (2012a). Crowdfunding: Tapping the right crowd. Venture Capital: An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, 15(4), 313–333.
Belleflamme, P., Lambert, T., & Schwienbacher, A. (2012b). Crowdfunding: Tapping the right crowd. Journal of Business Venturing, 29(5), 585–609.
Boltanski, L., & Chiapello, É. (2003). Der neue Geist des Kapitalismus. Konstanz: UVK.
Bradford, S. C. (2013). Crowdfunding and the federal securities laws. Columbia Business Law Review, 1(1), 1–30.
Burtch, G., Ghose, A., & Wattal, S. (2012). An empirical examination of the antecedents and consequences of contribution patterns in crowd-funded markets. Information Systems Research, 24(3), 499–519.
Castells, M. (2001). Das Informationszeitalter. Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Kultur: Die Netzwerkgesellschaft. Opladen: Leske+Budrich.
Castells, M. (2005). Die Internet-Galaxie: Internet, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Wiesbaden: VS, Verl. für Sozialwiss.
Chesbrough, H. W. (2003). Open innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
Gerber, E. M., Hui, J. S., & Kuo, P. (2012). Crowdfunding: Why people are motivated to post and fund projects on crowdfunding platforms. Online: http://www.juliehui.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CSCW_Crowdfunding_Final.pdf
Hazen, T. L. (2012). Crowdfunding or fraudfunding? Social networks and the securities laws – Why the specially tailored exemption must be conditioned on meaningful disclosure. Online: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1954040##
Hemer, J. (2011). A snapshot on crowdfunding. Fraunhofer ISI working paper, Karlsruhe.
Hildebrand, T., Puri, M., & Rocholl, J. (2011). Skin in the game: Incentives in crowdfunding. Berlin: ESTM.
Kaltenbeck, J. (2011). Crowdfunding und Social Payments im Anwendungskontext von Open Educational Resources. Berlin: epubli.
Kappel, T. (2009). Ex ante crowdfunding and the recording industry: A model for the U.S. Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review, 29(3), 376–385.
Kleemann, F., Voß, G. G., & Rieder, K. (2008). Un(der)paid innovators: The commercial utilization of consumer work through crowdsourcing. Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, 4(1), 5–26.
Lehner, O. M. (2013). Crowdfunding social ventures: A model and research agenda. Routledge Venture Capital Journal, 15(3), 289–311. Forthcoming.
Leimeister, J. M. (2010). Crowdsourcing: Crowdfunding, crowdvoting, crowdcreation. ZfCM Controlling & Management, 56(6), 388–392.
Marcombes, S. (2013). Lima: The brain of your devices. Online: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloud-guys/plug-the-brain-of-your-devices
Mollick, E. (2012). The dynamics of crowdfunding: Determinants of success and failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 29(1), 1–16.
Ordanini, A., Miceli, L., & Pizzetti, M. (2011). Crowd-funding: Transforming customers into investors through innovative service platforms. Journal of Service Management, 22(4), 443–470.
Papsdorf, C. (2009). Wie Surfen zu Arbeit wird. Crowdsourcing im Web 2.0. Frankfurt a.M./New York: Campus.
Papsdorf, C. (2012). Die Beteiligung an Web 2.0-Phänomenen aus Perspektive des Mediatisierungsansatzes. In T. Beyreuther, K. Duske, C. Eismann, S. Hornung, & F. Kleemann (Eds.), consumers@work. Zum neuen Verhältnis von Unternehmen und Usern im Web 2.0 (pp. 193–205). Frankfurt a.M./New York: Campus.
Pope, N. D. (2011). Crowdfunding microstartups: It’s time for the securities and exchange commission to approve a small offering exemption. Journal of Business Law, 13(4), 101–129.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1950). Kapitalismus, Sozialismus und Demokratie. Bern: Francke.
Surowiecki, J. (2005). Wisdom of crowds. London: Anchor.
Voß, G. G., & Rieder, K. (2007). Der arbeitende Kunde. Wenn Konsumenten zu unbezahlten Mitarbeitern werden. Frankfurt a.M./New York: Campus.
Ward, C., & Ramachandran, V. (2010). Crowdfunding the next hit: Microfunding online experience goods. Working paper.
Wheat, R. E., Wang, Y., Byrnes, J. E., & Ranganathan, J. (2012). Raising money for scientific research through crowdfunding. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 28(1), 71–72.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Marijke Roelandt-Toschev for translation and proof-reading.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Papsdorf, C. (2016). The Value of Crowdfunding: The Significance of Community-Financed Projects Beyond the Act of Financing. In: Egger, R., Gula, I., Walcher, D. (eds) Open Tourism. Tourism on the Verge. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54089-9_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54089-9_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-54088-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-54089-9
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)