Minding the Gap - An Expectation-Disconfirmation Approach to Reward-Based Crowdfunding

The remarkable growth of crowdfunding has sparked academic interest. By collecting small contributions from a large number of individuals, entrepreneurs, artists and other individuals and organizations can raise considerable amounts of money. Despite the increasing academic interest in this topic, there still appears to be a lack of understanding regarding the factors that determine individuals’ intentions to contribute to projects. In this research-in-progress paper, we propose a research model that examines future funding intentions by using Expectation-Disconfirmation Theory (EDT). By applying our research model to reward-based crowdfunding, we intend to shed light on the ways in which previous funding experiences influence future funding intentions. Through the data collected by this study, our research will contribute to the body of literature on reward-based crowdfunding and EDT. It will also provide practical implications for crowdfunding platforms and project initiators, providing them indications for their management of expectations.