Putting your money where your mouth is – the role of rewards in a value-based understanding of restaurant crowdfunding

Purpose Restaurant entrepreneurs are increasingly leveraging crowdfunding as an alternative financing mechanism. In the context of restaurant crowdfunding, studies have identified factors related to campaign communication that affect crowdfunding success from the entrepreneurs’ perspective. Integrating a funder perspective, this study aims to investigate the role of the consumption value offered by rewards and builds a value-based understanding of restaurant crowdfunding. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a sample of 3,134 restaurant campaigns launched on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, and texts of 34,128 rewards were analyzed using a Python program. A hierarchical linear regression approach with a generalized logistic regression model was adopted to test hypothesized relationships. Findings Drawing upon consumption value theory (CVT), this study finds that in restaurant crowdfunding, utilitarian value holds a strong inverted-U relationship and participatory value holds a strong linear relationship with crowdfunding success. However, socioemotional value does not have a significant effect on outcomes. This study also finds evidence for positive effects of greater variety, higher number of rewards and lower average pledge level on restaurant crowdfunding success. Practical implications This study extends the literature on restaurant crowdfunding by integrating insights on the effects of value offered through rewards. Primarily, this study finds evidence for distinct effects of consumption values for restaurant crowdfunding audience. Practically, this study holds implications for reward menu design and value offering design for restaurant entrepreneurs seeking crowdfunding. Originality/value Restaurant crowdfunding has been studied to a limited extent, with extant literature focusing on characteristics of campaign descriptions. The role of rewards is uncovered using CVT and thus a value-based understanding of restaurant crowdfunding is presented.