Crowdfunding sustainable entrepreneurship: What are the characteristics of crowdfunding investors?

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By addressing the financing gap for sustainable entrepreneurs, crowdfunding holds great potential to tackle environmental and social issues. Characterizing the target group of crowdfunding projects can enhance their funding success because a higher number of supporters can be attracted. Still, little knowledge is available about the types of supporters who invest in sustainability-oriented crowdfunding projects. Therefore, this study identifies such supporters’ socio-demographic characteristics and individual values based on Schwartz’s theory of basic human values. Drawing on a data set of 282 respondents from the German population, the typical supporter of sustainability-oriented crowdfunding projects is young, well-educated, familiar with crowdfunding and holds low levels of self-enhancement and conservative values. Based on these insights, recommendations are made for project initiators, as well as platform providers, which include specifically targeting younger, well-educated individuals with rather liberal and less-conservative values.
Original languageEnglish
Article number125667
JournalJournal of Cleaner Production
Volume290
Number of pages9
ISSN0959-6526
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25.03.2021

Bibliographical note

This work was supported by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (grant number 34844 ).

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