Successful crowdfunding campaigns: The role of project specifics, competition and founders' experience

Abstract

We focus on reward-based crowdfunding and identify the basic determinants of successful crowdfunding campaigns including new determinants not analyzed in previous studies. Using a rich database of Kickstarter projects launched during the period from April 2009 to April 2017, we employ an empirical logit model to test the causalities and statistical significance of the selected factors. Our new empirical findings suggest that launching a project campaign during the weekend and during the month with the stronger competition in the form of other launched projects decreases the success rate of the campaign. On the other hand, a longer preparation period on Kickstarter and a higher projects' density in the given state can increase the chances to succeed. We also conclude that the competition plays the most prominent role in the category of the smallest projects. Conversely, a negative effect of projects launched at weekends and a positive effect of a founder 's experience is the strongest in the group of the largest projects.