Crowdfunding for a Sustainable Future: A Systematic Literature Review

A transition toward a more sustainable economy requires substantial innovations. To this end, sustainability innovators need not only ideas but also financial resources. Yet, especially nascent sustainability innovators suffer from trust issues and other barriers to funding through traditional financing. In this regard, crowdfunding (CF) offers a promising approach but also creates additional challenges, such as how to phrase campaign descriptions in order to credibly communicate sustainability intentions. As CF involves complex choices, it is far from obvious how sustainability innovators can best utilize it. To address this gap, in this article, we describe a systematic literature review (SLR) that analyzed 78 relevant publications. The results of the SLR show that innovation's sustainability orientation influences the dynamics in the components of the CF system through the two key mechanisms of information asymmetries and motivational effects. Building upon this, the article presents and analyzes critical choice parameters for sustainability innovators who tap into CF, which in particular concerns the choice of CF platform, CF type, and campaign communication. Furthermore, related propositions and a research agenda on CF and sustainability are provided.