Analyzing Factors Of Crowdfunding Project Success And Cultural Dimension Comparison Study Of Crowdfunding Projects In Both China And The U.S.

Online crowdfunding has exploded globally since its early adoption in 2003 and estimated to become a 20-billion-dollar industry by 2020.With all the papers published on crowdfunding,there is a lack of project success studies done cross-culture.The purpose of this study is to explore factors of project success,review the similarities and differences between successful crowdfunding projects in China and U.S.,and provide valuable data to management looking to start a crowdfunding project in either country.In efforts to learn more about each culture,the study will also extend Hofstede's cultural dimension research in the specific field of crowdfunding.Using methods from Hofstede^[1]and Kim&Cho^[2]this study is able to collect current data in both the Chinese and U.S.crowdfunding markets,code the data using previously published methodology,and analyze each dataset using multiple regression and chi-square SPSS calculations.After completing the research,several factors show correlation to project success and each country will require different strategies for starting a project in the target country.For example,U.S.projects need to focus more time specifically with the customers to answer questions and keep an open dialogue,supply enough data about the project and project schedule with investors.These findings also correlate with Hofstede's cultural data and further proves that the U.S.rates higher on the“Uncertainty avoidance”scale.While in China,only a sheer number of viewers and potential investors were key factors to project success so a campaign to research and pull large amounts of views to the product would be ideal.While researching crowdfunding in China,Hofstede's cultural dimensions only partially supported reasoning for project success.This may be due to the infancy of crowdfunding in China as it only just emerged the as an online platform and only had a chance to develop for the last few years.Combining all research gives perspective to project managers looking to plan for project success in both U.S.and China.Knowing both project success factors and the cultural difference between countries may give management an edge when planning for their next crowdfunding project.Due to the maturity of the U.S.crowdfunding market and the early stages of the Chinese crowdfunding market,future research data would ideally be collected monthly over the course of the next few years to develop a stronger data set and analyze both countries for their changes and progress.