Experience Curves in Reward-Based Crowdfunding: An Empirical Study of Serial Creators
Wang, Nianxin, Li, Qingxiang, Liang, Huigang, Hu, Hao, Wang, Yi
Journal of the Association for Information Systems · 2025 · Volume 26 · Issue 1
Abstract
Previous studies have reported a linear relationship between creator experience and crowdfunding success. However, creator experience does not guarantee a high likelihood of crowdfunding success. Drawing from experience curve theory and entrepreneurial learning research, this study investigates experience curves in reward-based crowdfunding by focusing on the characteristics of creators’ prior campaign experience. We argue that the positive experience-performance relationship applies only to veteran serial creators, while novice serial creators cannot effectively apply their experiential knowledge to new projects. We further posit that two cross-project characteristics (interproject diversity and interproject interval) moderate the shape of the experience curve. Using a dataset of 6,469 projects initiated by 2,452 serial creators from Indiegogo, we found that creator experience has a U-shaped relationship with crowdfunding success and that this curve is flattened by interproject diversity and interproject interval. Our work provides both theoretical and practical implications for crowdfunding.
Keywords
Crowdfunding, Serial Creator, Experience Curve, Entrepreneurial Learning, Learning Curve
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