Crowdfunding: Motivation and a Measure of Social Energy in International Context

Agnieszka Szewczyk; Elżbieta Skrzypek

doi:10.18290/pepsi-2026-0006

Published : 2026-06-30

Vol. 32 No. 1 (2026)

Crowdfunding: Motivation and a Measure of Social Energy in International Context

Agnieszka Szewczyk

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3050-4192

Elżbieta Skrzypek

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9020-1671

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/pepsi-2026-0006

Abstract

Social energy is an innovative perspective on the traditional understanding of energy – contained within the realm of physics and chemistry, and signifying here the human propensity and capacity for intensive action. The aim of the article is to determine the relationships and strength of interactions between two main attributes of the discussed funding source: the number of people supporting projects and the sum of donations contributed to projects, taking into account the attribute of the offered reward package serving as motivation for making contributions, as well as to formulate social energy metrics and verify reward packages.

The study covered selected countries with the highest crowdfunding popularity in the years 2020–2025: USA, Japan, Germany, and Canada. Four project features were considered across several dozen categories: the number of successfully completed projects, the sum of contributions to projects in a given category, the number of people supporting projects, and the types of rewards offered to them. A clustering method was applied, examining similar project categories, according to the above characteristics. An online diagnostic survey was conducted regarding motivation to participate in crowdfunding campaigns with reward offerings. Social energy metrics were proposed, taking into account selected project attributes.

Keywords:

reward crowdfunding, social energy metrics, clusterization, social energy, motivation

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Szewczyk, A., & Skrzypek, E. (2026). Crowdfunding: Motivation and a Measure of Social Energy in International Context. Journal for Perspectives of Economic Political and Social Integration, 32(1), 177–219. https://doi.org/10.18290/pepsi-2026-0006

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