Configurational paths to sponsor satisfaction in crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a new financing channel for small- and medium-sized enterprises and individual entrepreneurs to raise funds for innovation projects online. Different from business research based upon the conventional symmetric thinking, this paper investigates sponsor satisfaction in crowdfunding using asymmetric analytics. Cross-tabular and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) were conducted for the antecedent factors, including delivery timeliness, product quality, project novelty, sponsor participation and entrepreneur activeness, and sponsor demographics. The results show that cases contrary to their main effects occur, and configurational models with high predictive validity are sufficient for predicting sponsor satisfaction or dissatisfaction in crowdfunding projects. This paper supports the complexity theory and deepens crowdfunding research by providing insights into sponsor satisfaction from asymmetrical perspective. It also makes practical implications for crowdfunding platforms and entrepreneurs.