Monetary and Social Rewards for Crowdsourcing

Francesco Cappa, Federica Rosso and Darren Hayes
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Francesco Cappa: Department of Business and Management, LUISS Guido Carli University, Viale Pola 12, 00198 Rome, Italy
Federica Rosso: Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Darren Hayes: Seidenberg School of Computer Science & Information Systems, Pace University, One Pace Plaza, New York, NY 10038, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Crowdsourcing of inventive activities is a particular form of crowdsourcing that helps firms to innovate by involving dispersed individuals to exploit “crowd wisdom”. In this context, the greater the number of contributions, the greater the possibility to gather extremely valuable ideas to produce innovative products and services. While monetary and social rewards can be an effective means to boost contributors’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivations to contribute, a theoretical understanding and empirical evidence of their effects are lacking. This paper focused on the crowdsourcing of inventive activities, initiated by listed companies worldwide, from 2007 to 2014. Our findings shed light on the influence of monetary and social rewards on the number of ideas collected. In particular, we analyzed the impact on the number of contributions brought about by monetary rewards and noted a positive influence related to its presence and also a negative effect related to the amount of the compensation. Moreover, we have demonstrated how the presence of a social cause is beneficial to the number of contributions. Consequently, we contribute to a scholarly understanding of the crowdsourcing phenomenon and we have provided guidance to managers seeking to initiate crowdsourcing campaigns.

Keywords: crowdsourcing; rewards; monetary reward; social benefit; Open Innovation; Open Sustainable Innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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