In crowdfunding, funders often have very little or no information about the social entrepreneur and the venture. This asymmetric information hinders funding in that potential funders only make a pledge if they can trust the entrepreneur and the seriousness of the project. Thus entrepreneurs have to signal information to potential funders. In the case of conventional ventures, this means showing that the company is committed to the financial returns or the quality of the product, for instance. However, in the case of social enterprises, entrepreneurs can signal their commitment to a social or an environmental challenge. The information that entrepreneurs want to convey to potential funders depends very much on the type of crowdfunding. The type of crowdfunding determines whether the entrepreneur is pitching to potential investors, lenders or potential consumers and general supporters of the project. While investors tend to be more concerned with the financial returns, the quality of the product or service tends to be the variable that matters most to the potential consumer. This thesis examines the crowdfunding campaigns of social ventures in order to understand how to crowdfund social enterprises. It identifies the signals with which, social entrepreneurs try to attract funding through different types of crowdfunding, mainly reward-based. It finds that reward-based crowdfunding offers a good basis for social entrepreneurs to attract funding by advertising and signaling their commitment to social or environmental issues. This is all the more true when the social enterprise seeking to be crowdfunded only aims to be financially autonomous and thus cannot offer attractive financial returns to potential investors.

Raising funds through crowdfunding has experienced an accelerated growth for start-up companies. Moreover, recent literature suggests that crowdfunding has developed from being just a fundraising tool to a versatile marketing tool (Brown et al., 2016). Even though the marketing aspect of crowdfunding has been researched, there are no clear distinctions of explicitly what marketing values a crowdfunding campaign may entail. This study investigates the two dominating crowdfunding approaches for commercialized ventures, namely, reward- and equity-based crowdfunding. A gap in literature has been identified regarding differentiating reward- and equity-based crowdfunding, in terms of what marketing values they encompass from an entrepreneur’s point of view. The authors’ theoretical position comprehends a connection between crowdfunding and marketing values, which the authors aim to investigate through an exploratory approach. The empirical findings are based upon eleven face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs who has launched a successful crowdfunding campaign and can thereby be considered experts in the field. Through the empirical findings, the authors were able to identify how each approach creates value for the company. The empirical findings suggest that there are convergences and divergences, differentiating reward- from equity-based crowdfunding. This study aims to support and guide entrepreneurs who want to start a crowdfunding campaign by giving the entrepreneurs directions depending on what marketing values they may seek.

Crowdfunding is a transformative service innovation, a novel and revolutionary way for entrepreneurs to obtain funding for their start-up ventures. This study explores the phenomenon of reward-based crowdfunding in relation to entrepreneurial behaviour and decision-making, as well as the relationship between the entrepreneur and the community. Following a case-study approach, the phenomenon is described based on existing literature and collected empirics from five qualitative in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs performing on Kickstarter. The findings of this study reveal, that reward-based crowdfunding reveals several mechanisms, which attract entrepreneurs to execute their activities and deal with uncertainty in a safer way. These activities refer to (1) independency from traditional investors, (2) creative and effectual reasoning at affordable loss, (3) extending the entrepreneur’s social network via the internet, and (4) utilizing web-based platforms for co-creation of marketing, communication, product design, and brand development. This may lead to adapted forms of entrepreneurship in the future.

Background: In today’s world, human attention has become a valuable resource that every entity wants to utilize and compete for. Attention together with funding have become two essential factors that start-ups are trying to acquire. Recently, crowdfunding has become a popular way for start-ups to obtain funding from investors, more specifically backers. However, crowdfunding can be utilized not only for gaining capital but also for interacting with backers, presenting an idea and as a marketing tool. Therefore, it is important to understand how start-ups can effectively grab and retain attention through crowdfunding.    Purpose: Only a certain number of studies researched the relationship between crowdfunding and the marketing aspect that it possesses. Additionally, there is a lack of studies that delved into the project presentations and communications aspects of reward-based crowdfunding platforms utilized for Generation Z and the attention span. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to discuss the role of project presentation and types of communication in grabbing and retaining Gen Z backers' attention on Kickstarter.    Method: To achieve the purpose of this study, qualitative research methods have been selected as preferred. Mainly deductive reasoning was followed, with some inductive elements adding precision to this angle from already established theories. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with backers of a Kickstarter campaign who belong to the Generation Z cohort. Thematic analysis was further employed to structure the data which involves coding, analyzing, and interpreting it.    Conclusion: Project & founder characteristics, as well as project presentation and its quality, are the main elements that need to be communicated through one of the communication types. Whether forms of visual content, copywriting or verbal and nonverbal communication, they all have their role and an impact on the attention being either grabbed, retained or both. Through these communication types, trust and credibility factors need to be gained, both visually and in the details of the campaign presentation. Additionally, the mediating and engagement factors have an impact on the grabbed and retained attention. Finally, signs of caught and retained attention of Generation Z backers on a Kickstarter campaign, do not necessarily translate into their donations.