Research On Donation Motivation And Influence Mechanism Of Donation-based Crowdfunding

As information technology has a profound impact on all professions and trades,charity industry derives a new donation channel-donation-based crowdfunding.Donation-based crowdfunding is a new model to participate in charity.Potential donors participate in donation-based crowdfunding without any require of material or financial returns.The essence of donation-based crowdfunding is the “donation + Internet” form,which injects new vitality into the development of traditional philanthropy.As donationbased crowdfunding in China is still in initial stage of development,it faces many challenges such as the success rate of raising capital is low,and the number of backers intended to fund is decreasing.How to improve potential donors’ intention to participate in donation-based crowdfunding has attracted the attention of project sponsors,designers of crowdfunding platforms and scholars.Although many scholars have studied the influencing factors of the success rate of donation-based crowdfunding,there are two main deficiencies in the existing literature:(1)Scholars pay more attention to the research of equity-based crowdfunding and rewardbased crowdfunding,but there are few studies on the individual’s intention to donate to donation-based crowdfunding,especially the lack of empirical verification on the relationship between the individual’s donation motivation and donation intention;(2)The behaviors on donation-based crowdfunding includes two types,namely,money donation and time donation,but it is not clear whether there are differences in the influence factors of these two types.In light of the above deficiencies,this study focuses on the following two issues:(1)What factors of the donation-based crowdfunding platform will affect the potential donors’ internal and external motivations,and whether the internal and external motivations will affect their donation intention?(2)Is there any difference in the factors affecting crowdfunding donors’ intention to donate time and money? Focusing on the above two questions,this article developed a research model,collected empirical data through questionnaires,and studied the influencing factors of donation intention by using structural equation model(SEM)analysis methods.First,this study draws on the self-determination theory and the stimulus-organismresponse framework to develop a theoretical model that explores the influence factors of donation intention by considering the self-determination needs and internal and external motivations of potential donors.Based on data collected from 436 crowdfunding donors in China,this study follows a SEM analysis to assess the model.The results indicate that perceived self-efficacy,perceived ease of use,and social connections have a positive and significant influence on supporters’ intention to donate.The results of this research promoted our understanding of individuals’ donation motivations in the donation-based crowdfunding,and provided guidance for the development of crowdfunding theory and practice.Second,this study considering two types of donation behaviors: money donation and time donation.We studied the key potential determinants of time donation intention and money donation intention This research develops a model for measuring time donation intention and money donation intention by integrating theory of planned behavior,normative activation theory and social presence theory.350 valid questionnaire samples were collected based on questionnaire surveys.We use SEM analysis method to analyze and verify the sample data.The research results show that social presence,trust,and perceived behavior control significantly affect the time donation intention.For the intention to donate money,social presence,trust,personal norms,attitudes and perceived behavior control all have a significant impact on it.Only subjective norms have no significant impact on the money donation intention.The results of this research provide practical guidance for crowdfunding platform managers and project sponsors.This study makes several contributions.First,motivation model studies the Chinese donors’ internal and external motivation types,which expands the theoretical research on the donation motivation of donation-based crowdfunding.Second,this study explores the differential influence of platform factors and personal factors on time donation intention and money donation intention.Third,this study explores motivation and intention factors from the perspectives of donors in the context of donation-based crowdfunding.