In the two previous sections there was a characterization of the two phenomenon’s initial coin offering and crowdfunding on the base of the relevant available academic knowledge. As it appears there are gaps in the knowledge about initial coin offering compared to crowdfunding.
Page 41 of 72 In regard to the research questions it is found that there are some overlapping areas of knowledge but also that there is a lack in the knowledge of initial coin offerings when comparing with
crowdfunding.
In order to answer the research question there will in the following be a review of where there are gabs in relation to the theories presented. The gaps will be presented in a chronological order following the research questions.
When looking into the motives behind participating in crowdfunding, it is found that there are multiply motives represented when deciding to participate in a crowdfunding campaign. In the characterisation of crowdfunding it seems as crowdfunding acts as an umbrella concept for various types of crowdfunding. There are four main categories of crowdfunding, Reward-, Donation-, Lending-, and Equity Crowdfunding.
These four types of crowdfunding types can be used to sell different types of technology, products or services but that does not necessary relate to the type of crowdfunding. These four different types of crowdfunding are in reality all relating to specific types of motives. The different names of the crowdfunding types are more an indication of the purpose of the crowdfunding and whether it is helped by donation or seeking profit in equity, than is reefing to a specific product or service.
Donation and equity crowdfunding are the poles in the crowdfunding spectrum.
In initial coin offering literature there is no support for clarifying the consumers’ motives when considering participating in an initial coin offering. But when participating in an initial coin offering the consumer always gets a digital token connected to a blockchain. This token is a representation of the participation of the initial coin offering but does not say anything about the product or service related to the token. But there is a categorisation of tokens and what they do, viewed in a more functionalised way than with the types of crowdfunding. The token that are issued in the initial coin offering are categorised as usage token, work token, funding token and staking token.
But the motives directly related to considering participation in an initial coin offering need further investigation.
When taking a look at the process of a crowdfunding campaign in relation to initial coin offering’s there are some gaps. In the literature of crowdfunding there is knowledge of the characterisation of the decision processes and the journey a consumer goes through when making a decision in regard to participation in a crowdfunding campaign, there are explicit explanations of the process and the elements it consists of.
There is literature in the area of the initial coin offering processes, but that is from the creator’s perspective. This can give an idea of some of the processes in an initial coin offering that may affect the consumer in their decision process. However, academic knowledge regarding the decision process of a consumer when participating in an initial coin offering is not yet found in academia.
Page 42 of 72 In relation to what consumers gets influenced by and how, in the process of considering and participating in a crowdfunding campaign and an initial coin offering, there is most knowledge in regard to equity crowdfunding. In the theories of the influencing and signalling factors of
crowdfunding there are presented two directions of influencing interactions 1) opinion-based or preference-based and 2) action-based or behaviour-based.
In terms of knowledge regarding the influences and signal that are sent and affecting the
participant in an initial coin offering is however more limited. The main area covered by literature regarding signalling and initial coin offering is the technology, risk, and regulation. This also leaves a gap of knowledge presented in academia.
Regarding the drivers and barriers there was not found enough support in the literature to know what drivers and barriers the consumer experiences when they are considering participating in an a initial coin offering. This is also relevant to investigate when answering the research questions.
So, as the above shows there are gaps in the literature. The approach to get data, information, and knowledge to cover these gaps will be disclosed the next chapter.
5 Data collection to uncover the characteristics of initial coin offering
As the previous chapter conclude that there are gaps in the knowledge of initial coin offering’s compared to crowdfunding making it difficult to present a well-founded comparison. So, in an effort to give a more accurate characterisation of initial coin offering some interviews will be conducted.
The interviews as a method have been chosen as an explorative approach to capture the
experience the informants have with initial coin offering’s, in order to clarify the gaps between the two phenomena. This is to get a better understand the underlying characteristics of initial coin offering, as the interviews can help understand the phenomenon, which may be made more clear by the answers from the informants.
Of other approaches is focus group interviews which also could have been conducted instead of semi-structured interviews, but it has not been chosen to use this approach for various reasons.
One of the reasons is that when conducting focus group interviews, there is a need for
homogeneity in the group and therefore there can be a need for conducting several individual interviews. This had required a lot of resources, which are considered less efficient disposal of the available resources. In this case, it is not an economic restriction in relation to cost per interview person, but it would, among other things, require a larger coordination task than the chosen interview form, and in this specific case a higher willingness in the target group to participate in this kind of research at all. And there are signs showing that this is a community that likes to be anonymous as it will show later.
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