Online service or virtual community? Building platform loyalty in reward-based crowdfunding

Purpose: This study examines how individual contributors' evaluation of the two aspects in reward-based crowdfunding—service and community—influences the formation of platform loyalty. It also seeks to determine the conditions under which the evaluation is positive. Design/methodology/approach: We collaborated for data collection with two reward-based crowdfunding platforms in South Korea that primarily promote crowdfunding campaigns in the creative domains. We combined the survey data collected from 578 contributors and campaign data from the platforms, empirically examining the formation of platform loyalty and its antecedents. Findings: The results suggest that service satisfaction with a platform and a sense of belonging to it are positively associated with platform loyalty. We also found that an individual contributor's self-image congruence with the crowdfunding platform is positively associated with service satisfaction and a sense of belonging, while the experience of greater campaign success moderates the relationship in different ways. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the crowdfunding literature by establishing a theoretical background for understanding reward-based crowdfunding platforms, which combine service and community. It also extends the scope of the literature on crowdfunding by examining the role of platform loyalty at the platform level. Practical implications: The results suggest that service and community are both critical for building a sustainable crowdfunding platform. Platform operators are expected to provide high-quality services and foster a sense of community. Identifying and developing contributors with higher self-image congruence with the platforms is essential. Originality/value: While previous literature on reward-based crowdfunding has focused on individual contributor- and campaign-level analyses, platform-level knowledge is lacking. This study is among the first to focus on platform loyalty of individual contributors toward reward-based crowdfunding platforms. Moreover, we use both individual-level perception and campaign-level performance variables to examine the formation of platform loyalty.