Product crowdfunding decision-making considering consumer loss aversion behavior under social influence
With the rapid development of internet technology and sharing economy,product crowdfunding,as a new financing and product marketing mode,has attracted more and more attention.Chinese e-commerce companies have also launched product crowdfunding business one after another.As a crowdfunding intermediary,the e-commerce platform(ECP)provides crowdfunding service and technical support,which links project sponsors(suppliers)and investors(consumers),and promotes the completion of transactions between them.In the period of product crowdfunding,consumers bear higher risks in terms of product quality and product delivery.When investing in crowdfunding products through the ECP,consumers often compare and evaluate the crowdfunding service level provided by the ECP based on their expectations of crowdfunding service,which will produce additional psychological effects and show the avoidance of utility loss.Then this will affect the purchasing decisions of customers.After successful product crowdfunding,the normal selling period begins.The product sales during the product-crowdfunding period are the result of consumers'purchasing behaviors during this period,conveying important information to potential consumers:product popularity and product quality.Therefore,in the normal selling period,the product sales in the crowdfunding period will affect consumers'cognition and perception of products,that is,social influence,which will bring additional utility to potential consumers.In order to understand the roles of the customers'loss aversion and the social influence in product crowdfunding decisions,this research is based on the two-stage mode consisting of crowdfunding period and normal selling period,considers the loss-averse behaviors of consumers in crowdfunding period and the social influence of product sales in crowdfunding period on consumers in normal selling period,and explores the optimization of the product crowdfunding decisions.The supplier adopts the two-stage mode of"crowdfunding-normal selling"to sell products through the e-commerce platform.Consumers are all strategic,who decide whether to buy products by evaluating the products and measuring the utility.If so,consumers need to decide whether to participate in crowdfunding or buy products in the normal selling period.In the crowdfunding period,the ECP first determines the crowdfunding service level.Then the supplier decides the price discount coefficient and publishes the crowdfunding price of unit product.If the crowdfunding is successful,the supplier pays a certain proportion of the raised funds to the ECP for the crowdfunding service fee.In the normal selling period,the supplier first delivers products to consumers who participate in crowdfunding,and then sells products to potential consumers.This study considers the social influence factor and the reference point of crowdfunding service level,establishes the utility function of loss-averse consumers and the market demand function.Then it constructs the product crowdfunding decision-making model to solve for the optimal crowdfunding service level of the ECP and the optimal price discount coefficient of the supplier in the equilibrium state.Moreover,the study discusses the impacts of the consumer's loss aversion coefficient and social influence factor on the optimal decisions.And it further compares and analyzes the supply chain equilibrium decisions-making in both cases of consumer loss neutrality and loss aversion,and explores the effects of relevant parameters on the profits of the ECP and supplier and supply chain by the method of numerical analysis.The research results show that comparing with the case that consumers are loss-neutral,when consumers are loss-averse,the e-commerce platform provides higher crowdfunding service level and the supplier provides lower crowdfunding price.Whether consumers are loss-averse or loss-neutral,the crowdfunding service level of the ECP and the crowdfunding price of the supplier both decrease with—138—the increase of social influence factor.Besides,no matter whether consumers are loss-averse or not,if consumers have larger sensitivity to the crowdfunding service level of the ECP,the ECP improves the optimal crowdfunding service level and the supplier raises the optimal crowdfunding price as the influence factor of crowdfunding service level increases.When the actual crowdfunding service level is higher than consumers'expectations,both the ECP and the supplier can get higher profits.This study provides valuable references and suggestions for suppliers and e-commerce platforms to successfully carry out product crowdfunding.
Product crowdfundingLoss aversionSocial influenceCrowdfunding service level
万方数据
维普
