How to create an engagement-friendly environment in reward-based crowdfunding?

Marcin Bielicki; Rafał Rydzewski

Open Access

How to create an engagement-friendly environment in reward-based crowdfunding?

Marcin Bielicki

and

Rafał Rydzewski

| Mar 01, 2022

Central European Economic Journal

Volume 9 (2022): Issue 56 (January 2022)

About this article

Cite

Page range: 38 - 55

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ceej-2022-0003

Keywords
crowdfunding, entrepreneurship, involvement, crowdsourcing, engagement

© 2022 Marcin Bielicki et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Theoretical Model of Customer Engagement (Vivek et al., 2012)

Theoretical model of backer engagement (source: own model)

Campaign end year vs campaign duration (in days) with linear trend line

Comments per day (during the campaign) vs the total number of backers with logarithmic trend line. (excluding campaigns two outliers – with the highest and lowest number of supporters)

Updates per day vs average pledge per backer (in USD) with logarithmic trend line

Tactics arranged in the proposed four areas of an engagement-friendly environment

Challenge	Fantasy	Curiosity	Social interactions
Stretch goals Social goals Voting Contest	Storytelling	New add-ons New rewards Daily goals	AMA Meetings live/online Dedicated group Social activities

Tactics’ impact on value and engagement

Tactic	Impact on value	Impact on engagement
Stretch goals (including social and daily goals)	Increases the content or quality of the product	It is a form of challenge, reaching successive levels.Social goals increase social interactions.If the rewards for completing further goals are unknown then this affects curiosity.
Voting	Allows tailoring the product to backers’ preferences	It is a form of challenge: it allows backers to compete with others.
Contest	Increases value through content co-created by backers	It is a form of challenge: it allows backers to compete with others.If the new content is unknown, then it affects curiosity.
New add-ons	New game content that adds value to the game, often only available during the campaign	Many of the add-ons do not appear until the campaign is already underway. This affects curiosity.
New rewards	New game content that adds value to the game, often only available during the campaign	If the rewards are unknown, then this affects curiosity.
Dedicated group	The groups are used, among other things, to exchange feedback on the game, thus correcting errors and generally improving the value of the product.	This improves social interaction and a sense of shared purpose.

Summary of basic tactics founded in sample campaigns

No	Title	Stretch goals	Social goals	Daily goals	Voting	Contest	New add-ons	New rewards	Dedicated group	Other
1	Frosthaven	x			X	x	x	x		x
2	Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5	x		x			x	x		x
3	Exploding Kittens	x		x			x	x		x
4	THE 7th CONTINENT	x			X		x	x
5	Nemesis Lockdown			x	X		x	x	x	x
6	Tainted Grail	x			X		x	x	x	x
7	Darkest Dungeon, the Board Game	x					x	x	x
8	Dark Souks, the Board Game	x					x			x
9	Zombicide Green Horde	x					x			x
10	Etherfields	x			X	x	x	x	x	x
11	Everdell: Newleaf, Mistwood, and the Complete Collection					x	x	x		x
12	Batman: Gotham City Chronicles	x			x		x	x
13	Nemesis Board game	x			x		x	x	x	x
14	Rising Sun	x					x
15	Zombicide: Black Plague	x					x
16	Return to Dark Tower	x					x	x	x	x
17	Bloodborne	x			x		x	x
18	The 7th Citadel	x					x	x		x
19	Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape	x		x			x	x
20	Massive Darkness	x					x	x
21	Monster Hunter World: The Board Game			x			x			x
22	Trial by Trolley	x	x		x					x
23	Zombicide: 2nd Edition	x
24	Zombicide: Invader	x	x				x
25	Conan	x					x
26	Ankh: Gods of Egypt	x					x	x
27	Zombicide: Undead or Alive	x		x			x	x
28	Joking Hazard	x	x			x				x
29	Bears vs Babies – A Card Game	x	x		x		x
30	Here to Slay	x	x				x			x

Examples of engaged backers’ comments

Tactic	Engagement example
Stretch goals	‘Can’t wait for the stretch goals. No hurry, no pressure: I’m just excited for the surprises!’ (Bear vs Babies)
Social goals	‘YAY! One of my images was selected! Wooooo!’ (Trial by Trolley)‘Oooo, I love this! Can’t wait to design something!’ (Trial by Trolley)
Daily goals	‘I do hope the Daily rewards equal the quality of other game's stretch goals: O’ (Monster Hunter World)‘Psyched for this and honestly I enjoy how their daily unlocks mimic the game. YES!’ (Monster Hunter World)
Voting	‘Rusted Nomad, this creation has some human elements that fit in with the games concept.’ (Etherfields Board Game)‘My vote it for Funeral Witch. The reason being, I just suffered the loss of a beloved pet. (...)’(Etherfields Board Game)‘I really like these game Reports. They’re interesting to read and give a good impression how the gameplay could feel...what decisions the players have to handle with. I’m really excited for the next reports and how the decisions may change during the game. :)(Ankh: Gods of Egypt)
Contest	‘Wow, wasn’t expecting results so soon. Over 250 submissions on the scenario design contest! Have you been evaluating things as they got posted, or do you have a very long week ahead of you?: O’ (Frosthaven)
New add-ons	‘The only thing that makes me sad about this campaign is that the game won’t hit my table for over a year.’ (Return to Dark Tower)
New rewards	‘I would love to see a truly all-in-gameplay without the miniature pack. It would be amazing if you could add this option, with corrected math ;)Either way, you guys do an incredible job. Simply stunning!Keep it up and thank you so much’ (Tainted Grail)
Dedicated group	‘Please vote here and let's us delve Tainted Grails lore together with the LOCATION JOURNAL this addition will add huge immersion and replayability https://boardgamegeek.com/article/30724648#30724648’ (Tainted Grail)
Other	‘I’ve supported plenty of KS campaigns but this have been the most entertaining one so far! You guys did something amazing and, if I had this fun just with the campaign, I cannot wait to play the game! Thanks for the ride!’ (Trial By Trolley)‘Yet another reason Exploding Kittens and the team behind it is so PAW-some. (See what I did there.) Not only are they celebrating how great we all are as backers (yeah, I went there) but getting us off our duffs to support animal shelters and their dedicated volunteers/staff too?! I literally can’t even. YAYEXPLODINGKITTENS!!!!! If I wasn’t working today I’d have on my party pants, but in lieu of that, I think it's time to find a rescue group to volunteer with ... you know, to help keep the kittens intact.’ (Exploding Kittens)‘Wow, what a lot of backers and money... I’m glad I backed this game. It gonna be great.’(Etherfields Board Game)‘I have just backed the project (was on vacation), but I would like to add some idea about new character (I know that has been decided already, but maybe there will be another one, or AR will re-evaluate existing ones). (...)Hope our community (along with AR) will find it interesting :)’ (Nemesis Lockdown)

Summary of basic information about sample campaigns’ performance

No	Title	Creator	Beginning of campaign	End of campaign	Updates (during campaign)	Backers	Comments per day (during campaign)	Pledge level
1	Frosthaven	Isaac Childres	31.03.2020	01.05.2020	33	83,193	446	$ 12,969,608
2	Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5	Kingdom Death	25.11.2016	08.01.2017	50	19,264	3491	$ 12,393,139
3	Exploding Kittens	Exploding Kittens	20.01.2015	20.02.2015	15	219,382	1,845	$ 8,782,571
4	THE 7th CONTINENT	Serious Poulp	26.09.2017	19.10.2017	54	43,733	1,184	$ 7,072,757
5	Nemesis Lockdown	Awaken Realms	28.05.2020	18.06.2020	11	41,907	972	£ 5,174,153
6	Tainted Grail	Awaken Realms	5.12.2019	28.12.2019	23	41,939	1,782	£ 4,940,030
7	Darkest Dungeon The Board Game	Mythic Games, Inc.	20.10.2020	06.11.2020	62	28,842	731	$ 5,657,479
8	Dark Souks The Board Game	Steamforged Games Ltd	19.04.2016	16.05.2016	63	31,178	2,519	£ 3,771,474
9	Zombicide Green Horde	CMON	30.05.2017	28.06.2017	51	27,236	3,548	$ 5,004,614
10	Etherfields	Awaken Realms	16.06.2019	08.08.2019	22	32,582	981	£ 3,974,362
11	Everdell: Newleaf, Mistwood, and The Complete Collection	Starling Games	09.03.2021	25.03.2021	12	31,463	604	$ 4,831,975
12	Batman: Gotham City Chronicles	Monolith Board Games LLC	27.02.2018	31.03.2018	74	19,303	1,429	$ 4,403,197
13	Nemesis Board game	Awaken Realms	17.01.2018	07.02.2018	23	30,553	1,482	£ 3,080,833
14	Rising Sun	CMON	07.03.2017	04.04.2017	36	31,262	1,083	$ 4,228,060
15	Zombicide: Black Plague	CMON	08.06.2015	07.07.2015	49	20,915	N/A	$ 4,079,204
16	Return to Dark Tower	Restoration Games	14.01.2020	04.02.2020	15	23,661	381	$ 4,054,744
17	Bloodborne	CMON	23.04.2019	14.05.2019	57	23,986	1,593	$ 4,013,731
18	The 7th Citadel	Serious Poulp	22.09.2020	15.10.2020	43	33,353	349	€ 3,289,904
19	Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape	CMON	04.08.2020	26.08.2020	63	21,763	2,243	$ 3,813,274
20	Massive Darkness	CMON	07.06.2016	08.07.2016	54	22,361	2,353	$ 3,560,642
21	Monster Hunter World: The Board Game	Steamforged Games Ltd	20.04.2021	30.04.2021	23	20,398	387	£ 3,448,262
22	Trial by Trolley	Cyanide And Happiness	08.07.2019	08.08.2019	30	55,024	115	$ 3,538,065
23	Zombicide: 2nd Edition	CMON	16.10.2019	7.11.2019	72	21,735	1,639	$ 3,410,084
24	Zombicide: Invader	CMON	10.04.2018	04.05.2018	60	18,486	2,087	$ 3,352,208
25	Conan	Monolith Board Games LLC	12.01.2015	11.02.2015	94	16 038	1,134	$ 3,327,757
26	Ankh: Gods of Egypt	CMON	14.04.2020	05.05.2020	41	23,386	1,494	$ 3,320,196
27	Zombicide: Undead or Alive	CMON	17.02.2021	11.03.2021	85	2,116	1,540	$ 3,310,872
28	Joking Hazard	Cyanide And Happiness	09.02.2016	10.03.2016	29	63,758	61	$ 3,246 588
29	Bears vs Babies - A Card Game	Exploding Kittens	18.10.2016	18.11.2016	11	85,581	400	$ 3,215,679
30	Here to Slay	Ramy Badie	21.01.2020	11.02.2020	23	38,922	463	$ 3,077,536

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Language:: English

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How to create an engagement-friendly environment in reward-based crowdfunding?

Published Online: Mar 01, 2022

Page range: 38 - 55

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ceej-2022-0003

Keywords
crowdfunding, entrepreneurship, involvement, crowdsourcing, engagement

© 2022 Marcin Bielicki et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Tactics arranged in the proposed four areas of an engagement-friendly environment

Tactics’ impact on value and engagement

Summary of basic tactics founded in sample campaigns

Examples of engaged backers’ comments

Summary of basic information about sample campaigns’ performance

How to create an engagement-friendly environment in reward-based crowdfunding?

Published Online: Mar 01, 2022

Page range: 38 - 55

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ceej-2022-0003

Keywordscrowdfunding, entrepreneurship, involvement, crowdsourcing, engagement

© 2022 Marcin Bielicki et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Tactics arranged in the proposed four areas of an engagement-friendly environment

Tactics’ impact on value and engagement

Summary of basic tactics founded in sample campaigns

Examples of engaged backers’ comments

Summary of basic information about sample campaigns’ performance

Keywords
crowdfunding, entrepreneurship, involvement, crowdsourcing, engagement