Reward-based crowdfunding as a tool to constitute and develop collaborative innovation networks (COINs)

Abstract

The concept of “Collaborative Innovation Networks” (COINs) has been successfully applied in many projects over the past 15 years to detect COINs in given situations and to enhance the behavior of related actors in the corresponding social networks. However, what might be missing is an easily applicable tool, which helps potential initiators of an innovative endeavor in a guided process to initially constitute and further develop a COIN over several stages. In this paper, we follow the idea that reward-based crowdfunding campaigns could be such a practical tool. Therefore, we develop a conceptual framework of how reward-based crowdfunding can be applied to support the constitution and development of COINs.