Social capital and the digital crowd: Involving backers to promote new product innovativeness |
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| Institution: | 1. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group (WIN) – TIME Research Area, RWTH Aachen University, Kackertstr. 7, 52072 Aachen, Germany;2. Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany;1. Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London, United Kingdom;2. Stern School of Business, New York University, United States;1. DeSantis Distinguished Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA;2. Visiting Professor, Birmingham Business School, 116 Edgbaston Park Rd, Birmingham, B15 2TY, UK;3. Department of Management, Information and Production Engineering, University of Bergamo, viale Marconi 5, Dalmine, BG,24044 Italy;4. Department of Accountancy and Corporate Finance, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersplein 7, Ghent, 9000, Belgium;1. Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze (Building 8), 90128, Palermo, Italy;2. Politecnico di Bari, Viale Japigia 182, 70126, Bari, Italy;1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States;2. Northeastern DMSB and National Bureau of Economic Research, Boston, MA, United States;3. Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark |
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| Abstract: | Involving customers is often considered a method to develop products in line with market needs. However, we still need to obtain more insights into the respective drivers and outcomes in the context of (a) the involvement of customers by entrepreneurial ventures and (b) business-to-consumer (B2C) relationships. This study suggests that reward-based crowdfunding can provide a digital opportunity for both areas. We explore how community-derived social capital influences ventures’ approach to engaging backers in new product development and how this, in turn, advances product innovativeness. Using structural equation modeling, we test a unique dataset that combines primary survey and secondary platform data from 710 crowdfunding ventures. Our results provide a nuanced picture of how social capital dimensions are associated with backers as an information source and as co-developers and, indirectly, with new product innovativeness. This study underscores that crowdfunding serves as a digital platform for market-oriented innovation. It contributes empirical insights into how nascent teams can engage the digital crowd in product development via crowdfunding. We also add to social capital literature by illuminating web-mediated mechanisms that transform knowledge into tangible innovation outcomes. |
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| Keywords: | Crowdfunding Co-creation Digitization Open innovation Social capital Startups |
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