earticle

영어

This study examines whether prospective backers selectively follow different types of prior backers when making pledge decisions, depending on the severity of information asymmetry faced in the crowdfunding project. Extant literature suggests that prospective backers follow both prior backers with relevant experience (i.e., funding experience in the same product domain) and prior backers with network centrality (i.e., popularity in the backer network) when making pledge decisions. Contrary to this popular perception, we find evidence for the contingent effects of prior backers’ influences on later backers, from our analysis of 1,359 campaigns funded by 49,073 backers on Wadiz, the largest South Korean crowdfunding platform. Prospective backers selectively follow prior backers with relevant experience for experience good-based campaigns but not for search good-based campaigns (unless they are inexperienced in funding). Instead, prospective backers selectively follow prior backers with high network centrality for search good-based campaigns but not for experience good-based campaigns.