Integrating co-creation into crowdfunding: A comprehensive model for internet users’ intention to participate in tourism projects

This study aims to develop and validate a comprehensive model that elucidates the factors influencing internet users’ intentions to participate in crowdfunding campaigns for tourism projects. This research utilized a quantitative methodology, collecting data from 385 participants through an online survey as well as through offline methods. The analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), enabling the examination of the proposed hypotheses and validation of the comprehensive model that identifies the factors affecting internet users' intentions to engage in tourism crowdfunding projects. The results reveal that trust, perceived usefulness, perceived risk, communication quality, engagement, and social influences significantly predict internet users’ intentions to participate in crowdfunding tourism projects. Moreover, trust plays a crucial mediating role, mitigating the impact of perceived risk on participation. Additionally, crowdfunding platform ease of use only indirectly enhances users’ participation intention through trust. These findings underscore the importance of sharing transparent information about project’s potential risk and giving users access to secure crowdfunding processes to build trust towards the promotor and enhance users’ participation in tourism crowdfunding campaigns. This study advances the understanding of crowdfunding participation in the tourism sector by introducing a novel framework that integrates co-creation theory and social proof theory. The empirical validation of this comprehensive model offers valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers seeking to enhance the effectiveness of tourism crowdfunding campaigns.