Reward-based crowdfunding as gift exchange. On the interconnection of consumption, commitment and community in crowdfunding

以奖励为基础的众筹作为礼物交换。

• 批准号: 392018913
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Frank Kleemann
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Fachgebiet Techniksoziologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2017-12-31 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/392018913?language=en
• 关键词: Reward; based; crowdfunding; gift; exchange.

The research project aims at analyzing the peculiar combination of market exchange and donation in reward-based crowdfunding (or, in the German term, crowdsupporting) in the perspective of gift exchange theory. Reward-based crowdfunding is the original form of crowdfunding. Crowdfunding can be prescribed as the financing of various kinds of projects based on small financial contributions of many supporters (the crowd) mediated by internet platforms. Reward-based crowdfunding can be defined in short as a method for sponsorship with a non-financial return. The non-financial return often is an exemplar of the product which the project aims to generate. E.g., if the project is about financing a book publication, it is common to promise a copy of the book as a reward for adequate monetary support. Often, the reward has features that express a particular bond to the produced object, e.g. an autographed copy of the book. Noticeably, in reward-based crowdfunding the funding activity has both the character of purchasing a consumer good and of supporting a worthy cause. This double- sided character of social exchange in reward-based crowdfunding is of particular interest for the research project.In theoretical terms, the project starts from the assumption that the key for understanding reward-based crowdfunding is in the trilateral connection of consumption, commitment to a cause of deeper meaning, and reference to a community of like-minded persons. Thus, the relatedness of market exchange and donation in reward-based crowdfunding is based on the fact that supporters act like consumers, but at the same time attach a deeper meaning to the object of consumption, which motivates them to get involved with that very object and provides a basis for the feeling of a personal bond to other like-minded persons. The quality of this trilateral connection of motives will be analyzed empirically in the socio-theoretical perspective of gift exchange theory.The research methodology builds on a web-ethnographic case study design: Single cases of reward-based crowdfunding projects are selected by criteria of theoretical sampling. Analysis will focus 1) on the exchange relations between project initiators and supporters and the social relationships of all participants, 2) on its interpretability in the light of gift exchange theory, and 3) on the impact of real or imagined communities in the context of temporary projects. The data base consists both of the project-related web communication of all participants, which will continually be documented, and on comprehensive qualitative interviews with initiators and selected supporters. Thus, the interpretations by the participating actors as well as the processual dynamics of reward-based crowdfunding, and the interaction of both dimensions will be systematically examined.

该研究项目旨在从礼物交换理论的角度分析基于奖励的众筹（或在德国术语中，众筹）中市场交换和捐赠的独特组合。基于奖励的众筹是众筹的原始形式。众筹可以被规定为基于许多支持者（人群）通过互联网平台提供的小额资金捐助的各种项目的融资。基于奖励的众筹可以简单地定义为一种非财务回报的赞助方法。非财务回报通常是项目旨在产生的产品的一个范例。例如，在一个示例中，如果项目是关于资助图书出版的，则通常承诺提供一本书作为获得足够资金支持的奖励。通常，奖励具有表达与所生产的对象的特定联系的特征，例如，签名的书的副本。值得注意的是，在基于奖励的众筹中，融资活动既具有购买消费品的特征，又具有支持有价值事业的特征。奖励众筹中社会交换的这种双面性对本研究项目特别有意义。从理论上讲，本研究项目的出发点是这样一个假设：理解奖励众筹的关键在于消费、对更深层意义的事业的承诺以及对志同道合者社区的参考这三方面的联系。因此，在基于奖励的众筹中，市场交换和捐赠的相关性是基于这样一个事实，即支持者的行为就像消费者一样，但同时也为消费对象赋予了更深层次的意义，这激励他们参与到这个对象中，并为与其他志同道合的人建立个人纽带的感觉提供了基础。本文将从礼物交换理论的社会理论视角对三方动机的质量进行实证分析，研究方法建立在网络民族志案例研究设计的基础上：通过理论抽样的标准选择基于奖励的众筹项目的单个案例。分析将集中在1）项目发起者和支持者之间的交换关系以及所有参与者的社会关系，2）根据礼物交换理论对其进行解释，以及3）临时项目背景下真实的或想象的社区的影响。该数据库包括所有参与者与项目有关的网络通信（将不断记录）以及与发起者和选定支持者的全面定性访谈。因此，参与者的解释以及基于奖励的众筹的过程动态，以及这两个维度的相互作用将被系统地研究。