MARKETING ARTICLE CRITIQUE (Article Critique Sample)

Marketing Critique Name: Institution: Course: Professor: Date: Marketing critique Acar et al. (2021), in the paper “The Signal Value of Crowdfunded Products,” investigates a novel idea in crowdfunding. The authors identify that previous research focuses on the factors that drive people to support crowdfunding projects and the success factors of crowdfunding platforms. Their research addresses a novel concept by examining how the broader market interprets crowdfunding projects. From a marketing perspective, the authors investigate whether consumers will favor products financed via crowdfunding compared to the traditional forms of financing such as venture capital and bank loans. The authors distinctly identify the research gap in the existing literature. This has allowed me to appreciate that most research explains why people support crowdfunded projects. This study examines the concept of a consumer not participating in a crowdfunded project. I am intrigued by the second research question, which examines whether consumers' purchase intention would be influenced by the products financing mode (crowdfunded, venture capital, or bank) Furthermore, this research assumes a different view by focussing on how the broader market views crowdfunded products. However, a limitation of the literature review is the inclusion of a few studies. I find that the authors provide a brief literature review, and they could have included more quantitative and qualitative studies that explore the concept of crowdfunding. Nonetheless, the literature review, despite being brief, clearly identifies the research gap the study addresses The authors excel in developing the hypothesis and making predictions for the research questions. The study formed three hypotheses which were tested through seven studies. The use of the experimental design, where the authors randomly assign subjects to groups, strengthens the study's internal validity. Most importantly, it allows the researcher to draw causal inferences from the study. The sample size of each study is determined a priori based on the researcher’s experience, and this is critical to achieving statistical power for the study (Lakens, 2021) The authors link their findings to the research questions and the seven studies. First, the study found that a crowdfunded product enhances consumer preferences in favor of the product. Secondly, the study found that consumer preference is enhanced by the perceived higher product quality and the desire to address marketplace equality. Thirdly, consumers will not prefer high-risk crowdfunded products because they associate them with lower quality This work has made a significant contribution to marketing theory and practice. It is among the first to examine the effect of crowdfunding on nonparticipating consumers, and it employs the experimental approach to argue for a positive causal effect between crowdfunded products and consumer preference. Its relevance to practice is that firms can differentiate and improve their bottom lines by communicating that the crowd was actively involved in financing its products. Howev...