Narrative “End States” and the Dynamics of Participation in Civic Crowdfunding

Authors

  • Amanda J. Porter VU Amsterdam
  • Marcel Veenswijk VU Amsterdam

Keywords:

civic crowdfunding, narrative, end states, participation

Abstract

The growing phenomenon of “paying to participate” is an important yet understudied aspect of crowdfunding, especially in the context of civic crowdfunding, where meaningful participation is linked to the production of public goods. In this study, we propose “end states” as a theoretical and methodological vehicle to examine how narratives of civic crowdfunding projects stimulate crowd participation and how this participation shapes the broader institutional and organizational context. We analyze narrative end states in two civic crowdfunding projects taking place in the Netherlands. The results of our analysis show three types of narrative end states: plotted, revised, and future. Initial end states were plotted to fulfill a specific need of the project initiators, however, these proved unsuccessful in mobilizing the crowd. Through an intense revision of end states, project initiators learned how to connect the crowd-community to the project, ultimately inspiring new end states for greater crowd-community participation in the future. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on narrative approaches to crowdfunding and the theory and practice of civic crowdfunding.

Author Biographies

Amanda J. Porter, VU Amsterdam

Amanda Porter is an Assistant Professor at the VU University Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics. She holds a PhD in Organizational Communication from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MA in Organizational Communication from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on understanding how digital technologies support open, multi-stakeholder, and problem-centered forms of organizing. 

Marcel Veenswijk, VU Amsterdam

Marcel B. Veenswijk is professor in Management of Cultural Change and head of department of Organization Sciences. He publishes on cultural change, institutional transformation and innovation processes, especially in the context of public sector organizations. The work of his research group addresses the tensions between institutionalized structures and individual agency, the changing norms in institutional fields, the establishment of newly emerging fields, the break down or cut across institutionalised boundaries and the micro-processes of conflict and identity formation. Veenswijk has been project leader in a large variety of (externally financed) research projects.+31 20 59 86732

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Published

2018-06-11

Issue

Vol. 12 (2018)

Section

Articles

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