Navigating post-crowdfunding commercialization: Launch decision, market sales, and product survival

Abstract Despite growing scholarly work on crowdfunding, not enough studies have examined post-crowdfunding commercialization. In this research, we conceptualize post-crowdfunding commercialization as a three-phase process: product launch, sales in the mainstream market, and product survival. In Study 1, we examine 638 video games and find that successfully crowdfunded products are about seven times more likely to be launched in the market than failed ones. In Study 2, we rely on the dual-market view from innovation diffusion theory and suggest that backers at the crowdfunding stage and consumers at the commercialization stage represent two distinct markets. Using longitudinal data on 211 crowdfunding projects, we find that crowd size (i.e., the number of backers) functions as a double-edged sword: It is positively related to product adoption but negatively related to customer satisfaction. Product adoption and customer satisfaction further mediate the relationship between crowd size and product survival. Moreover, time to market worsens the negative relationship between crowd size and customer satisfaction.