Table 3

Model boundary diagram

Model componentTheoretical foundationLiterature description
1. The founder's direct networkMollick (2014) It is the group of family, friends and colleagues. It is the backbone of the campaign in the early stage (Mollick, 2014). This variable is crucial to bring the campaign to a wider audience on the web
2. The founder's social networkKoch and Siering (2015) It is the amount of the social network (e.g. LinkedIn and Facebook) contacts of the founders (i.e. the number of contacts)
3. Founder's experience in CF campaignJinwook and Lee (2015), Koch and Siering (2015) Previous experience of founders in crowdfunding projects, both as a funder and founder is positively related to CF project's success
4. Founder's reputation and trustworthinessBelleflamme et al. (2015), Koch and Siering (2015), Mollick (2014), Mollick and Robb (2016) Personal and professional reputation of founders are positively related to project's success; thus if it rises then project's success rises
5. Third-party endorsementMassa Saluzzo and Alegre (2021) Third-party endorsement about founders, in crowdfunding platforms, is linked to project's success. If endorsement rises (in quantity and quality) then project's success rises
6. Founder's historyKoch and Siering (2015), Zvilichovsky et al. (2015) Previously backed and/or created other (successful) projects on the platform (funding reciprocity)
7. Funder's preparation and experienceJinwook and Lee (2015) As funder's preparation rises, the success of CF campaign rises. This is a mix of, basically, knowledge and previous experience in crowdfunding attitude
8. Effort and specialized knowledge required to usersKoch and Siering (2015), Rossi and Vismara (2018) The level of effort and/or the specific knowledge required to the users (backers and founders) to operate or just navigate the crowdfunding platform
9. Metadata qualityShneor and Vik (2020) Quality-designed metadata reduces users' effort and increases matching ratios between funders and fundraisers. These enhance the experience of using the platform, i.e. users' engagement
10. Quality of graphics, styles and the web pageBeier and Wagner (2016) Graphics, styles and web pages' structure design influence the experience and the engagement of users, thus influencing the quality of platform design
11. Duration of the campaignBeier and Wagner (2016) Duration balance of the campaign (Koch and Siering, 2015) is the maximum duration of the open call, over which the project expires
12. Revenue share of the crowdfunding platformAitamurto (2015), Muzellec et al. (2015) It is “the price” applied by the crowdfunding platform provider, thus for the intermediation services. It has the form of a share on the capital raised by the crowdfunding campaigns (if successful)
13. Quality project communication (i.e. information, contents and use of media)Koch and Siering (2015), Xiao et al. (2014)
Mitra and Gilbert (2014)
Etter et al. (2014) 
Quality of project communication is a key cause of campaign's success; it is made up of
  • a)

    quality of descriptions, (Koch and Siering, 2015),

  • b)

    depth of description (Koch and Siering, 2015; Xiao et al., 2014),

  • c)

    language used (Mitra and Gilbert, 2014),

  • d)

    Characteristics specified (Etter et al., 2014) and

  • e)

    effective use and combination of media (Koch and Siering, 2015)

14. Orientation of the project toward common goods and interestsHörisch (2015), Hörisch and Tenner, 2020; von Selasinsky and Lutz, 2021)The higher orientation of the project (i.e. the impact) on saving and preserving common goods and interests (e.g. environmental, social, etc.) the higher is the success ratio of the project
15. Funds other than Funders'Mollick and Robb (2016) The presence of additional capitals, other than funders', increases the project's success
16. Idea originality and creativityBurtch et al. (2011), Shneor and Vik (2020) Originality and creativity of the project idea is searched by non-professional investors (i.e. people) who are looking for a return and for an engagement, a form of participation to a campaign
17. Coherence of the crowdfunding modelBretschneider et al. (2014) The model of crowdfunding (donation, reward, lending, equity and ll-or-nothing vs. keep-it-all) applied to the crowdfunding campaign influences the quality of the project, perceived by the audience of a campaign
18. Congruity of the targetMollick (2014), Yang et al. (2015) Targeting the campaign over the target perceived as “congruous” by the audience causes the fall of trust and confidence to the success of the campaign
19. Quality and frequency of project updatesLee et al. (2016) Quality and frequency of project updates are crucial to capture funders during the open campaign timeframe
20. Supportiveness of the comments posted by backersShneor and Vik (2020), Yang et al. (2015) The supportiveness of the comments posted on the project page by those who backed the campaign, influences the level of audience and orients the decisions of investing (or not) in the given project
21. Value of return to the funderBelleflamme et al. (2015) The value the funder recognizes to the returns (financial or not). This return depends on the crowdfunding model chosen by the founders, (the type of return) and by the amount of reward/return. The rise of return is linked to the rise of project's success
22. Platform popularityBranzov and Maneva (2014), Jinwook and Lee (2015) Platform popularity is the level of acknowledgment of a crowdfunding platform, in the crowdfunding environment (potential crowdfunders)
23. Social media fake manipulationShneor and Vik (2020) Manipulation of fake comments with social media reduces audience of the platform and in turn of the campaign
24. The financial gapWonglimpiyarat (2018) The lower the gap of the extant capital raised against the target, the lower the risk of failure. As much as the gap falls, the funding (both in pledges and in speed) rises
25. Confidence or trustKang et al. (2016) It is the trust, reputation and confidence, a certain platform has gained in the crowdfunding environment. This influences the choice of the project to fund. Trust can be cognitive and affective (Kang et al., 2016)
26. Specialization and quality of platform service providerRossi and Vismara (2018) The specialization and the quality of service offered to users by platforms' companies are causes of engagement and reuse of the platform

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