The life-cycle influence mechanism of the determinants of financing performance: an empirical study of a Chinese crowdfunding platform

Abstract

Employing a unique data set that incorporates development events for 243 reward-based projects on one of the biggest crowdfunding platforms in China, JingDong Crowdfunding, this paper examines two vital aspects related to the financing performance of crowdfunding projects: the influencing factors and the change laws of the effects of the determinants. The econometric analysis results of individual fixed effects models with instrumental variables reveal that the fundraiser’s online social capital, number of description images and project popularity, as well as the herding effects that exist in the financing process, have significant positive impacts on financing performance, while the funding goal has negative impact. More importantly, the data highlights the life-cycle features of each determinant’s influence in the financing process. Campaign popularity and herding effects both have progressively increasing influences on fundraising performance, while online social capital of the fundraiser and the number of description images exercise declining effects over it. One notable finding is that the funding goal’s effect on the fundraising outcome shifts from decreasing positive in the growth stage towards increasing negative in the stable and maturity stages. The findings are of great guiding significance for improving campaign performance and development of the crowdfunding industry.