Analysis of crowdfunding descriptions for technology projects

Abstract

There are many factors that contribute to the success of a project on crowdfunding sites, such as Kickstarter. These include, but are not limited to, the specified project goal of funding, the success of similar projects, the funder incentives, the amount and type of information given on project webpage, the credentials and trustworthiness of project creators. Every successful project on Kickstarter has a project video, which introduces the product. This thesis analyzed four attributes of the project video to determine the success of the project, i.e. whether or not the project received the requested funding. These attributes included the trustworthiness of creators, level of demo of product, finish of product and amount of excitement engendered by video. A survey of undergraduate students was conducted, in which participants were asked to rank each of these attributes for videos of both successful and unsuccessful projects. The results are discussed.