Seminars on Management – Assoc. Prof. Oğuz A. Acar

Seminars on Management series, organized by Kadir Has University Department of Business Administration, is hosting Assoc. Prof. Oğuz A. Acar from City University of London, Bayes Business School (CASS) on Tuesday, December 14. You can follow Dr. Acar’s talk titled “The Signal Value of Crowdfunded Products” on Zoom.

Abstract: Crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative means of financing new ventures by utilizing the financial support of a large group of individual investors. This research asks a novel question: Does being crowdfunded carry any signal value for the broader market of observing consumers? Seven studies reveal a consumer preference for crowdfunded products, even after controlling for a product’s objective product characteristics. The authors identify two inferences that help explain this effect: (1) consumers perceive crowdfunded products to be of higher quality, and (2) they believe supporting crowdfunding reduces inequality in the marketplace. The authors further document an essential boundary condition of the first inference: the identified effect reverses in high-risk domains (e.g., products that involve high physical risk) due to consumer perceptions that the crowdfunding model lacks sufficient professionalism to mitigate risk. Concerning the second inference, the authors find that the positive crowdfunding effect is powerful among consumers who value social equality. Taken together, this work sheds new light on consumer perceptions of crowdfunding, elucidates why and when consumers prefer crowdfunded products, and offers actionable implications for managers.

About the Speaker: Oğuz A. Acar is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Marketing and Director of the Marketing Strategy & Innovation MSc Programme at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City, University of London. He is also a Research Affiliate at the Laboratory of Innovation Science at Harvard University, an Expert (in Behavioural Sciences and Innovation) at the World Economic Forum, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). He was recently named a World’s Top 40 Business School Professors Under 40.

Dr. Acar’s research is on behavioral innovation — it draws on social science to understand the creation, evaluation, and adoption of innovative outputs, be it a novel idea, product, strategy, or technology. This research is published in leading academic journals across various disciplines, including marketing (e.g., Journal of Marketing Research), psychology (e.g., Psychological Science), management (e.g., Journal of Management), and innovation (e.g., Research Policy) as well as in executive-oriented outlets such as Harvard Business Review and California Management Review. He is currently co-editing a book entitled ‘The Oxford Handbook of Individual Differences in Organizational Contexts’ by Oxford University Publications.

Before joining Bayes, he was an assistant professor at King’s College London and held visiting scholar positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NYU Stern School of Business. He completed his PhD from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. He also worked as a marketing professional in FMCG and financial services industries. He is an engineer by training.

Seminars on Management
Title: “The Signal Value of Crowdfunded Products”
Speaker: Doç. Dr. Oğuz A. Acar, City University of London, Bayes Business School (CASS)
Date: December 14, Tuesday , 18.00 (GMT+3)
Zoom Meeting ID: 821 9526 8705
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/s/82195268705