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Study shows 9% of Kickstarter campaigns fail to deliver backer rewards
It is always disappointing when you back a crowdfunding campaign that never makes it off the ground, but it is even worse when you back a campaign that succeeds but ultimately fails to live up to its promises. According to a recent study, that may happen more often than you might think.
The study, which was conducted by Ethan R. Mollick of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, found that roughly 9 percent of successful Kickstarter campaigns are unable to deliver the backer rewards that they promised to their supporters.
In his study, Mollick surveyed 47,188 backers of Kickstarter projects and attempted to find any unifying features of campaigns that were unable to deliver their rewards.
“Among funded projects, a failure to deliver seems relatively rare, accounting for around 9 percent of all projects, with a possible range of 5 percent to 14 percent,” Mollick said in his abstract. “There are few indicators at the time of project funding as to which projects might ultimately fail to deliver rewards, though small projects (and to a lesser extent very large projects) are more likely to fail to deliver rewards, as are some project categories.”
“The demographics of project creators (including gender, education level, and family status) did not significantly affect the chance of a project succeeding.”
Crowdfunding accountability
Failing to deliver backer rewards can result in more than a few hundred (or thousand) angry donors. In some cases, it can actually lead to legal troubles.
Earlier this year, a Washington court ordered the creator of a botched Kickstarter campaign to pay $54,851 in civil penalties and restitution.
“Washington state will not tolerate crowdfunding theft,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement at the time. “If you accept money from consumers, and don’t follow through on your obligations, my office will hold you accountable.”
While most successful Kickstarter campaigns ultimately deliver their products, 9 percent is not a negligible number, and it could certainly make some users more timid when it comes to backing future crowdfunding projects.
Photo by Rocío Lara
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