Green Crowdfunding: An Empirical Study of Success Factors

Abstract

Despite the growing body of research on crowdfunding, there is still a critical need to clarify the essential elements of its connection to sustainability. This study explores how various constructs, such as green product codesign, green market insight, environmental legitimacy, and the stage of product development, bear on the success of crowdfunding endeavors intended to finance eco-friendly products. We employed a questionnaire to gather insights from 113 campaign initiators, deviating from the predominant focus on web-based data collection found in much of the existing literature. The collected data were then examined through the application of structural equation modeling techniques. The findings indicate that, with the exception of environmental legitimacy, all the examined constructs exhibited a positive effect on the campaign's success. Furthermore, it was observed that the stage of development subtly diminishes the positive relationship between green product codesign practices and the success of a crowdfunding campaign. Our study offers valuable theoretical insights in light of these findings. In addition, the article proffers pragmatic suggestions for more effective crowdfunding of sustainable products.