Work

The Legitimization Effect of Crowdfunding Success: A Consumer Perspective

Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: Based on legitimacy and consumer inference theory, we examine when, how, and why past crowdfunding success influences the perceptions and behaviors of consumers. Across five studies (four controlled experiments and one field experiment), our findings demonstrate that a young venture’s past crowdfunding success enhances consumers’ perceptions of its cognitive legitimacy. This “legitimization effect of crowdfunding success” leads to positive outcomes with respect to purchase intentions, brand attitudes, and consumers’ willingness to recommend young ventures to others. These effects are robust across different product categories. However, our findings also reveal that these positive effects occur exclusively for young ventures, whereas they disappear or even reverse for established ones.
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,000
OpenAlex ID: W4200149404
FWCI: 3.954
Cites: 99
Cited by: 32
Related to: 10