The choice of product strategy and marketing strategy for serial crowdfunders

Purpose Serial crowdfunding is a common phenomenon, and serial crowdfunders face multiple decisions. Most crowdfunding platforms implement one-time payments, while some platforms implement deferred payments. This paper explores the product and marketing strategies of serial crowdfunders in these two payment environments and identifies the impact of payment mechanisms on their decisions. Design/methodology/approach Serial crowdfunders consider choosing either the product exploration strategy or the product exploitation strategy, and whether to purchase the targeted marketing service. Thus, four scenarios are constructed. Profit functions for serial crowdfunders are constructed under four scenarios and with two payment mechanisms. Findings The results suggest that when the proportion of loyal consumers is low, serial crowdfunders should choose the product exploration strategy. The pricing of short message services should use gradient pricing instead of flat rate pricing. Compared with the one-time payment mechanism, the deferred payment mechanism increases the possibility that serial crowdfunders will choose the product exploration strategy. Originality/value Previous studies default to creators adopting the one-time payment mechanism, whereas this paper innovatively introduces the deferred payment mechanism and compares the multiple decisions required of serial crowdfunders under different payment mechanisms. The focus on targeted marketing services provided by the platform opens up a new perspective for crowdfunding research.