Assessing Stability in the Relationship Between Parties in Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing Projects During the COVID-19 Crisis

Introduction

it has not yet withdrawn from the category of charity tools completely. Many charity campaigns continue to obtain funding through crowdfunding (Eldridge, Nisar & Torchia, 2021). To date, the majority crowdfunding studies have focused mainly on those factors contributing to a successful campaign and thoroughly examined the experience of the corresponding actors (Xie et al., 2019). The results of discussions in various fields suggest the potential for crowdfunding platforms to develop efficiency (Gerber & Hui, 2013), as capital from the crowd can increase the funds of both business companies and social movements. The recent COVID-19 outbreak showed a high demand for innovations that can be used in the fight against health hazards, specifically the pandemics. The crowdfunding platforms can provide these projects with financial support they may need within a fairly short timeframe. In crowdfunding, donors motivated by getting something in return jointly finance startup projects and make contributions to achieve a funding goal. However, when there is an emergency, such as COVID-19, donors are interested not in financial gain, but in finding quick and reliable solutions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes necessary to address a number of challenges related to providing an effective and reliable communication platform in order to increase trust and resilience during crises and emergencies (Huang et al., 2020). The surge in demand for services and applications through social media has opened up a number of new opportunities for exploring and using crowdfunding platforms during this challenging time. In addition, there is a significant shift in both individual and collective social behavior due to the intensive proliferation and development of social networks and the emergence of many services and applications through their platforms. Due to the continued impact of the spread of COVID-19 and the introduction of a number of restrictions that have a particular impact on the daily life and behavior of every person in the world, the digital transformation process will only gain momentum and continue to grow and develop in the future (Kim, 2020). The provision of new large-scale platforms through social media provides new opportunities and ways for the exchange and integration of information about the dynamics of diseases, the creation of new knowledge to combat the spread of disease, etc. (La et al., 2020). COVID-19 introduces new perspectives on social responsibility in a crisis. The development of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platforms for communication, cooperation, and unification of a large audience is a very urgent issue since new views on the level of social responsibility emerge during the crisis (Abdulhamid et al., 2020).

Practice shows that failure of many crowdfunding campaigns is due to setting of inadequate tasks or a complex return mechanism (Belleflamme et al., 2013). Recent studies have shown that crowd’s motives for participating in various forms of crowdsourcing initiatives may vary (Leboeuf & Schwienbacher, 2018). Studies of popular European crowdfunding platforms show that crowdfunding not only feeds technology startups but also serves a new source of finance for the existing companies and firms (Eldridge et al., 2019). Furthermore, crowdfunding platforms are of interest to scientists and researchers who seek to implement their research projects focusing on COVID-19-related topics. These projects attract donors with different kinds of motivation and decision criteria (Simons et al., 2019). Thus, investigating motivation itself and motivation for donation is crucial for the promotion and development of crowdfunding platforms.

Studies on the impact of investing options on funding decisions during the pandemic are nowhere to be found. The options in point may relate to bonus/reward criteria established by project initiators, and donors can choose any of those options themselves. For example, bigger commitments bring more profit or assets (Kuo, Lin & Hou, 2020). Therefore, the number of options may be a significant factor influencing donor decision-making. Studying the impact of various motivations on fundraising provides an opportunity to improve project design and thus increase the likelihood of reaching success in the campaign. At this point, motivation research is a promising and relevant direction in the field of crowdfunding technologies.