The Star Citizen Phenomenon & the “Ultimate Dream Management” Technique in Crowdfunding

Jan-Philipp Ahrens, Andrew Isaak, Baris Istipliler and Dennis M. Steininger

EconStor Conference Papers from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics

Abstract: Developing and keeping a community motivated is critical for success, particularly in self-hosted crowdfunding. Existing research has identified social capital as an important driver of such endeavors. However, the process of how social capital can be developed, managed, and targeted towards a common goal in digital settings is mostly unknown. Applying social exchange theory and a mixed-methods approach, we leverage a large dataset of one of the world’s most-funded crowdfunding projects – Star Citizen – to zoom in on the process of social capital development as a success factor. We depict how repeated social exchange and reciprocity norms foster the emergence of a cohesive and supportive community from a crowd of strangers. Moreover, we explain how this is used by Start Citizen within five themes of a novel and IS-enabled managerial technique focusing on dreams. Our insights generalize to contexts beyond crowdfunding that require the engagement of crowds for joint value creation.

Keywords: Social Exchange Theory; Crowdfunding; Panel Regression; Mixed Methods; Qualitative Interviews; Motivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D23 D83 D91 L26 L86 M15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: Shared first authorship with Jan-Philipp Ahrens
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:esconf:338892

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