| dc.description.abstract | Purpose – Crowdfunding is a viable alternative to access finance to overcome the limited capital problem among developing countries. Despite the low rate of crowdfunding adoption in Africa, there is a dearth of literature on the continent, specifically on adoption drivers and behavioural intentions. This thesis aims to investigate the drivers of crowdfunding adoption intentions in Africa and fully understand the impact of awareness on crowdfunding, both as an antecedent and a dependent variable.
Design/Methodology/approach – The hypotheses developed are based on the extended theory of planned behaviour by incorporating the challenges highlighted in previous conceptual papers. This study utilises an approach based on quantitative research. An online survey was administered that collected data from 471 respondents in Tanzania. The authors further used PLS-SEM for analysis and implemented several quality tests to ensure the robustness of the results.
Findings – The empirical results in this study reveal that attitudes and interests towards crowdfunding and prior contribution experiences are the crucial drivers of crowdfunding contribution intentions. Furthermore, education and training, as well as subjective norms, play an essential role in increasing crowdfunding awareness. Also, crowdfunding awareness was found to have a positive and significant influence on interest, self-efficacy, and perceived behavioural control. Finally, awareness, interest, perceived IT infrastructure and social trust had a favourable impact on attitude towards crowdfunding.
Originality/value – First, the study provides empirical insight into the crowdfunding concept in the sluggish growth context. Second, it clarifies the impact of awareness on crowdfunding, both as an antecedent and dependent variable (identification of effective strategies for increasing awareness among potential backers). Third, it further helps to refine existing models and develop new ones that better reflect the unique characteristics of different regions.
Keywords Crowdfunding, Theory of planned behaviour, Awareness, Adoption, Intentions, Africa, Tanzania. | |
