Understanding the crowdfunding phenomenon and its implications for sustainability

Nonetheless the large body of knowledge rapidly accumulated on crowdfunding as well as the growing relevance of this phenomenon for sustainability, there are very few studies on the role of crowdfunding for sustainability-oriented projects, and many related issues are still far from being fully understood. This signalises a clear need for unveiling the main dynamics of the relationship between crowdfunding and sustainability, and also opening up useful directions for future research on this relationship. To conceptualize the implications of crowdfunding for sustainability, we propose and use a framework, encompassing five dimensions, namely the project creator, the backers, the campaign itself, the crowdfunding platform, the outcomes of crowdfunding campaigns. By interpreting and fine-tuning the findings emerging from the extant crowdfunding literature to the specific context of sustainability-oriented projects, we develop propositions that provide important implications for this type of initiatives. These implications can guide scholars in finding new paths of research on the topic, as well as provide practitioners with an instrument to better understand the relevance of the crowdfunding phenomenon for sustainable initiatives and make more informed decisions.