Consumer Purchase Intention toward Crowdfunding Products/Services: A Cost–Benefit Perspective

With the popularity of crowdfunding, many small- and medium-sized ventures and startups which have insufficient funds advertise and sell their services or products in reward-based crowdfunding markets. The success of crowdfunding projects for sale purposes is therefore beneficial to the sustainable development of these growing enterprises. Based upon goal attainment theory, a research model based on a cost–benefit framework is proposed to analyze consumer purchase intention in reward-based crowdfunding markets. The research model is empirically tested with data collected from 398 participants in China. A structural equation modeling analysis reveal that perceived benefits (price concession and perceived innovation) exert a significant positive impact on perceived net goal attainment (PNGA), whereas perceived costs (transaction cost and performance risk) have a weak negative effect on PNGA. The results also indicate that satisfaction mediates between PNGA and purchase intention. Furthermore, we use an artificial neural network analysis to weigh the relative importance of the antecedents of PNGA. The results suggest that perceived innovation is more important than price concession, which is consistent with the structural equation modeling analysis. These results might deepen our understanding of how consumers trade off costs and benefits in the purchase of crowdfunding products/services.