ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH
Association for Consumer Research, University of Minnesota Duluth, 115 Chester Park, 31 West College Street Duluth, MN 55812
Let's Get Together and Make a Difference: Experiencing a Community in Donation-Based Crowdfunding Danit Ein-Gar, Tel Aviv University, Israel
This research shows that activating community perception in donation-based crowdfunding campaigns increases donation giving. The effect is mediated by prospective donors' sense of connectedness to other donors. The effect is stronger when prospective donors experience fear of social exclusion and is attenuated when they feel socially secure.
[to cite]: Danit Ein-Gar (2018) ,"Let's Get Together and Make a Difference: Experiencing a Community in Donation-Based Crowdfunding", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 46, eds. Andrew Gershoff, Robert Kozinets, and Tiffany White, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 532-533.
[url]: http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/2411522/volumes/v46/NA-46
[copyright notice]: This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. Let’s Get Together and Make A Difference: Experiencing A Community In Donation-Based Crowdfunding Danit Ein-Gar, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
EXTENDED ABSTRACT out interdependence orientation as the main alternative explanation. Social-causes campaigns are the largest category in crowd- Results show that in the community condition donations and con- funding and donation-raising campaigns hold a big portion of this nectedness are higher (Mdon=0.20, SD=0.30; Mcon=3.20, SD=1.06) category (www.statista.com). However, most of the research in than in the control (Mdon=0.11, SD=0.22; Mcon=2.73, SD=1.24; tdon crowdfunding focused on equity-based crowdfunding and very little (142)=-2.05, p=.043; tcon (142)=-2.43, p=.02). Mediation analysis research has focused on donation-based crowdfunding. While there (PROCESS Model 4; with 5000 resamples; Hayes 2013) show that is a common assumption that virtual communities benefit equity- feelings of connectedness fully mediate the effect of community based crowdfunding campaigns (Belleflamme, Lambert, & Schwie- perception on donations, controlling for Interdependence (B=0.019, nacher, 2013; Colombo, Franzoni, & Rossi-Lamastra, 2015; Kraut SE=0.011; 95% CI: [0.003, 0.050]). et al., 2012), this assumption has not been tested in donation-based In the third study the model was tested with a different commu- crowdfunding. The potential effect of community in such campaigns nity manipulation and connectedness scale: MTurk participants (n= is interesting given past findings on prosocial behavior in the context 202, $1 compensation) randomly saw one of two campaign versions. of others. Past studies have suggested that the existence of others In the control condition participants read about the campaign with no promotes prosocial behavior (Fischbacher, Gachter, & Fehr, 2001; mention of other donors. In the community manipulation condition Frey & Meier, 2004; Van Bommel et al., 2012; Garcia et al., 2009; at the end of the campaign webpage participants read posts of do- Levine et al., 2002) while other studies have shown that the existence nors that supported the campaign. Participants completed the sense of others may hinder prosocial behavior (Darley & Latane, 1968; of connectedness scale (α=.94; Lee, Draper & Lee 2001) and their Fischer et al., 2011; Garcia et al., 2002). In light of these contradict- willingness to donate a bonus prize (scale 0-$50). T-tests show that ing findings, it is important to explore how emphasizing the exis- in the community condition, donations and connectedness are higher tence of a community in donation-based crowdfunding campaigns (Mdon=13.06, SD=13.67; Mcon=4.28, SD=1.31) than in the control influences prospective donors. (Mdon=7.98, SD=10.35; Mcon=3.69, SD=1.31; tdon(200)=-2.99, p<.003;
This research shows that when prospective donors’ experience tcon(200)=-2.96, p<.002). Mediation analysis (PROCESS Model 4; the existence of a community in such campaigns it substantially im- with 5000 resamples) show that feelings of connectedness fully me- pacts the campaigns’ bottom line. As humans we have a fundamental diates the effect of community perception on donations (B=0.069, need to connect with others and belong to a group (Alderfer 1972; SE=0.026; 95% CI: [0.024, 0.124]). Baumeister & Leary 1995; Maslow 1943; McClelland 1987; Ryan & The fourth study demonstrated that the effect is more likely to Deci 2000), this research shows that when experiencing the existence occur when consumers fear social exclusion than when they feel so- of such communities, even when donors are strangers to each other, cially secured. In a 2 (social exclusion) by 2 (community perception) this need is activated and influences donation-giving. Furthermore, design, MTurk participants (n=321, $1 compensation) first complet- the need to connect with others is heightened when concerned with ed an extraversion scale and received (randomized) feedback on their social exclusion, but weakened when feeling socially secured (Man- score describing their future as socially secure or socially excluded er et al. 2007). In doing so, this research demonstrates how subtle (Twenge et al. 2007). They then saw one of two versions of a cam- cues in the campaign webpage can induce the perception of a com- paign. The community condition included a slogan of a community munity, activating the psychological need to connect with others to (as in study 1) and pictures of donors. The control condition had influence online donations. no community slogan and donors were anonymous. Participants re- In the first study, the hypothesis that emphasizing the existence ported feeling connected (as in Study 3), completed the PANAS scale of a community increases donations was tested. An “A/B testing” (Watson, Clark, and Tellegen 1988) and their willingness to donate a procedure was administered on 22 campaigns active on a crowdfund- bonus prize (scale 0-$50). ing platform (Jewcer.com) during 10 days. Donors saw either one of In the moderation mediation analysis (PROCESS Model 7, two versions (for each campaign) which differed only in the main with 5000 resamples), community perception serves as the predic- slogan. In the community version the slogan was “Join our commu- tor, social exclusion as the moderator, connectedness and PANAS- nity of supporters and we can make a difference.” In the control ver- Negative as the mediators, and donations as the dependent measure. sion the slogan was: “Support this cause and make a difference.” Out Connectedness significantly mediates the effect when feeling social- of 3,523 web visitors, 504 made a donation. T-test analysis (combin- ly excluded (B =1.518, SE=0.679; 95% CI: [0.436, 3.117]) but not ing all campaigns) show that for the community versions, donations when feeling socially secure (B=0.120, SE=0.583; 95% CI: [-1.097, were higher (M=$62.39, SD=$78.15) than for the control versions 1.255]). PANAS had no mediating effect. (M=$49.61, SD=$55.42; t(502)=-2.11, p=.035). Taken together, the results of four studies show that activating In the second study the mediating role of donors’ sense of con- the perception of a community increases donors’ responsiveness and nectedness to the community was tested. MTurk participants (n=144, the important role that donors’ sense of connectedness to other do- $1 compensation) randomly saw one of two version of a hypothetical nors has on donation giving. These findings provide important theo- crowdfunding campaign. In the control condition, donors were pre- retical contribution to the literature on donation, crowdfunding and sented on the main page as anonymous. In the community condition, group processes as well as important implications for charitable or- presence of others was strengthened by presenting donors with their ganizations, crowdfunding platforms and campaign creators. full name. Participants reported how much of their compensation money they would like to donate (scale 0-$1) and how connected they feel to this group of donors (scale 1-7). Finally, they completed an Interdependence orientation scale (α=.83; Singelis 1994) to rule
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