סמינר בניהול טכנולוגיה יזמות ומערכות מידע

הסמינר יינתן ע"י יעל ענבר וליאור זלמנסון, דוקטורנטים בתכנית מערכות מידע, באוניברסיטת תל אביב

Abstract: 

Crowdfunding, the process of soliciting small investments from the crowd over the internet, has become a popular method of raising funds for different causes. Crowdfunding platforms adopt social features, inspiring network dynamics that involve both types of participants – the funders and the initiators.  Crowdfunding platforms, such as Kickstarter.com, serve as two sided markets, allowing the same user to play both sides – today's funder could be tomorrow's initiator and vice versa. The visibility of the on-platform actions record of users in crowdfunding platforms provide the crowd with informative profiles of the projects initiators. In this study we explore the impact of the funding actions taken by a project's initiator on the success chances of her current project.

We find that backing other projects prior to creating a crowdfunding project significantly increases the likelihood of succeeding in financing that project. We also show that reciprocity-like behavior is apparent in the platform: an evidence for both direct and indirect reciprocity is found, reflected by the support given back to a project initiator who previously supported others.

This work is part of a joint research with Ohad Barzilay and David Zvilichovsky.