Motywy stosowania crowdfundingu przez polskich producentów gier wideo

Abstract

The main goal of the dissertation was to identify the structure of motives for using crowdfunding by Polish video game developers. The specific aims included organizing the existing knowledge on crowdfunding, creating a classification of motives for using crowdfunding based on its benefits and describing the segment of Polish video game developers in the context of their attitude towards crowdfunding. In the research conducted for the dissertation, three research methods were applied: literature review, internet survey and ethnographic research. The literature review allowed to create a classification of motives for using crowdfunding. The internet survey enabled collection of data from Polish video game developers on various aspects that could affect their approach towards crowdfunding, such as: the level of knowledge on crowdfunding, the perception of benefits of crowdfunding and the specifics of their organizations. The ethnographic research was carried out in the form of individual in-depth interviews with the game developers that used crowdfunding in the past in order to better understand their motives. The thesis contains four main chapters. The first two are based on literature studies, whereas the other two chapters are based on empirical studies. Chapter 1 focused on crowdfunding, organizing the knowledge on its origins, definition, models and creating the classification of motives for using crowdfunding. Chapter 2 concentrated on the global and Polish video game industry, its specifics, structure and the foundations for use of crowdfunding. Chapter 3, the first empirical chapter of the dissertation, presented the subject and goals of the thesis, as well as the research questions and methodology of the research. In Chapter 4 the results of empirical studies were presented and discussed. The Conclusion of the dissertation contained a summary of the theoretical and empirical studies carried out, the answers to research questions and discussion of it limitations.