Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638

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Tourism Management Perspectives

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp

What drives visitor economy crowdfunding? The effect of digital storytelling T

on unified theory of acceptance and use of technology
⁎
Myung Ja Kima, , C. Michael Hallb,c,d
a
The College of Hotel & Tourism Management, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea
b
Department of Management, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
c
Department of Geography, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
d
School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Digital storytelling is a key factor used by fundraisers to attract investors to crowdfunding projects. Despite the
Digital storytelling important role of digital storytelling in consumer persuasion, research on the effect of digital storytelling on
Crowdfunding consumer behavior is scarce in the visitor economy crowdfunding sector. The objective of this work is to create
Visitor economy and verify a theoretically integrated research framework including three-dimensions of digital storytelling as a
Unified theory of acceptance and use of
reflective second order factor (perceived esthetics, narrative structure, and self-reference) and concepts of
technology (UTAUT)
Leisure and tourism-related fields
unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) (performance expectancy, social influence, effort
South Korea expectancy, facilitating condition, and intention). Results reveal that digital storytelling has highly significant
effects on facilitating condition, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence in descending
order. Investors' intention to crowdfund is also significantly affected by facilitating condition, performance
expectancy, social influence, and effort expectancy in descending order, offering significant theoretical and
managerial implications in leisure and tourism.

1. Introduction grown substantially in a short time, the chances of successfully raising

Internet-based fundraising provides a new way to invest via online
platforms (e.g., Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Wadiz). A growing number of
entrepreneurial and business initiatives are seeking to obtain capital via
crowdfunding. Unlike, traditional business financing Internet-based
crowdfunding draws relatively small contributions from individuals
without standard financial intermediaries (Colombo, Franzoni, & Rossi-
Lamastra, 2015; Gerber & Hui, 2013; Mollick, 2014). In 2019 the global
transaction value in the crowdfunding segment amounted to US
$6923.6 million, and is expected to show an annual growth rate of
14.7% and grow to almost US$12 billion by 2023, with the most pop-
ular crowdfunding category being games, followed by technology, film/
video, and music (Statista Market Forecast, 2019). Interestingly, Vos,
Yeh, Carter, and Tagg (2007) report that businesses under three years
old are the least reliant on institutional sources of finance and that new
technology-based ventures suffer the most from a financial gap.
In Korea, the transaction value in the crowdfunding segment
amounted to 5 billion Korean Won (KRW) (equivalent to US$4.2 mil-
lion) in 2015, growing to 130 billion KRW (equivalent to US$109.2
million) in 2018 (Myung & Na, 2019). Even though crowdfunding has
money on projects are estimated to be 36.8% for fundraisers from
Kickstarter in the United States as of April 2, 2019, which is a relatively
low success rate (Crockett, 2019; Statista, 2019). According to Korean
government data the success rate of fully funding projects from equity,
bond, and lending crowdfunding in Korea is 67.0% (Financial Services
Commission, 2018, 2019).
Small businesses and entrepreneurs increasingly seek to attract
crowdfunding investment through improved digital storytelling
(Ingram Bogusz, Teigland, & Vaast, 2019). Digital storytelling refers to
online encounter communication practices through technologies (e.g.,
photography, video, audio) (Couldry, 2008; Robin, 2008) where in-
dividuals adopt the role of storytellers and story receivers in order to
build relationship experiences (Pera & Viglia, 2016). Digital storytelling
has become increasingly used in a number of areas of the visitor
economy (Kim & Hall, 2019b), including travel and tourism marketing
(Bassano et al., 2019), travel and tourism e-commerce (Hassan, 2016),
online gaming and entertainment technology (Klimmt, Roth,
Vermeulen, Vorderer, & Roth, 2012), and cultural tourism (Wu, 2006).
In a visitor economy context, research on crowdfunding has applied
various technologies to digital storytelling to a number of activities

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: silver@khu.ac.kr (M.J. Kim), michael.hall@canterbury.ac.nz (C.M. Hall).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100638
Received 26 June 2019; Received in revised form 22 January 2020; Accepted 25 January 2020
2211-9736/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
including digital heritage dissemination (Bonacini, Tanasi, & Trapani,
2018), multimodal pitching for entrepreneurial startups (Doyle,
Freeman, & O'Rourke, 2017; Manning & Bejarano, 2017; Murphy,
2018), investors' willingness to invest (Omeragic, 2016), and e-com-
merce (Weissenfeld, Abramova, & Krasnova, 2017). Hassan (2016)
concentrates on digital storytelling as a form of e-word-of-mouth for
travel and tourism promotion by developing a tailored application
within the widely researched unified theory of acceptance and use of
technology (UTAUT) context (Im, Hong, & Kang, 2011; San Martín &
Herrero, 2012; Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003). However,
despite the growing recognition of digital storytelling in a tourism and
visitor economy context, research on digital storytelling in leisure and
tourism related crowdfunding is limited, especially in terms of applying
the UTAUT framework. Therefore, this study examines the role of di-
gital storytelling in visitor economy crowdfunding in a UTAUT theory
context.
Research has identified the important role of user behavioral in-
tention in actual acceptance and use of technologies by utilizing the
UTAUT model (Venkatesh et al., 2003; Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012).
Studies have found that the UTAUT framework highly explains travel
consumer behavior in tourism e-commerce contexts (e.g., Escobar-
Rodríguez & Carvajal-Trujillo, 2014; San Martín & Herrero, 2012; Tan,
Lee, Lin, & Ooi, 2017; Tan & Ooi, 2018). The UTAUT framework with
five key constructs (i.e., performance expectancy, social influence, ef-
fort expectancy, facilitating condition, and intention) was found to
accurately predict crowdfunder behavior on Chinese (Li, He, Song,
Yang, & Zhou, 2018) and Korean crowdfunding platforms (Moon &
Hwang, 2018). Consequently, the purpose of this work is to develop and
test a conceptually integrated model to better understand crowdfunder
behavior by identifying the casual relationships of digital storytelling
(perceived esthetics, narrative structure, and self-reference) and the
five key UTAUT concepts in the context of the visitor economy sectors
(e.g., leisure and tourism-related fields).
In order to accomplish the goal, this study asks two key research
questions: how does digital storytelling influence the UTAUT model?
and how does the UTAUT explain crowdfunder behavior intention? In
order to answer the questions, we analyze data collected from Korea,
applying covariance based-structural equation modelling (SEM).
Accordingly, this study provides theoretical and practical insights for
academia and industry in the visitor economy crowdfunding sectors
with respect to better understanding crowdfunding behavior.
2. Literature review
2.1. Theoretical framework
2.1.1. Visitor economy crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a “method for funding a variety of new ventures,
allowing individual founders of for-profit, cultural, or social projects to
request funding from many individuals, often in return for future pro-
ducts or equity” (Mollick, 2014, p. 1). Crowdfunding has become in-
creasingly popular in tourism and the wider related visitor economy,
because it is perceived as a means by which start-ups and entrepreneurs
can develop their business with reduced risk, e.g. by having supporters
act as advocates for the initiative, and because it can reduce depen-
dence on more traditional sources of capital, such as banks, which may
restrict entrepreneurial behaviors (Lelo de Larrea, Altin, & Singh,
2019).
Fundraiser team size, national proximity, rewards, and social media
have been found to be significant for crowdfunding success of tourism-
related innovation projects in Switzerland (Beier & Wagner, 2015;
Grèzes, Emery, Schegg, & Perruchoud, 2015). In China, information
quality, charity orientation, and social networks are identified as con-
structs that influence tourism crowdfunding performances (Li, Wang,
Fang, & Liu, 2016). However, a limitation in undertaking tourism re-
lated research on crowdfunding is that tourism does not have a
2
Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
standard industry classification. As a result, much tourism-related data
is collected in a wider sectoral context, including what may be broadly
termed the visitor economy (Grimmer & Vorobjovas-Pinta, 2019; Long,
2017; Page, Bentley, Teo, & Ladkin, 2018; Shi, Zhao, & Chen, 2017),
defined as “the hospitality and tourism sector (food and drink provision
via cafes, restaurants and accommodation), travel agencies, transport
providers, cultural activities like galleries, events and retailing”
(Connell, Page, Sheriff, & Hibbert, 2017, p. 111). There is no tourism
specific crowdfunding website or comprehensive data in South Korea.
In the absence of tourism specific data, research on visitor economy
data may therefore help shed light on leisure and tourism-related
crowdfunding practices and issues (Kim & Hall, 2019b).
In recent years, studies on visitor economy crowdfunding have in-
cluded a number of travel and tourism-related projects (e.g., Boiko,
Vedmid, & Okhrimenko, 2017; Chaboud & Caseau, 2018;
Dzhandzhugazova & Ilina, 2017; Honisch, Harrington, & Ottenbacher,
2019; Lelo de Larrea et al., 2019; Marchegiani, 2018; Simeoni & De
Crescenzo, 2018; Wang, Li, & Law, 2017). The development of cam-
paigns for tourism and hospitality initiatives by crowdfunding sites
allow projects to obtain capital as well as distribute information via
online social media (Chaboud & Caseau, 2018; Dzhandzhugazova &
Ilina, 2017). Digital storytelling is often integral to the use of social
media and can have a significant effect on the success of crowdfunding
projects (Boiko et al., 2017; Honisch et al., 2019). For example, in the
cultural heritage context, Marchegiani (2018) finds that the perceived
hazard for funders is lessened via a full disclosure of information from
crowdfundraisers. Wang et al. (2017) find that high-quality images as
well as the number of backers and the volume of reposts in external
social networks influence tourism crowdfunding performance.
Kickstarter (2019), one of the world's leading crowdfunding plat-
forms, has enabled funding of US$1.68 billion for the tourism and lei-
sure sectors (47.2% of all crowdfunding on the platform) via reward,
donation, and investment crowdfunding out of a total successful
amount raised of US$3.56 billion since the platform launched in 2009.
Tourism-related research has shown crowdfunding to provide a range
of economic, industry, and personal benefits (Camilleri, 2018; Di Pietro,
Guglielmetti Mugion, & Renzi, 2018; Dollani, Lerario, & Maiellaro,
2016; Honisch & Ottenbacher, 2017; Temelkov & Gulev, 2019). For
example, crowdfunding has been shown to support the development of
tourism-related enterprises in areas such as heritage tourism (Di Pietro
et al., 2018), sustainable tourism (Dollani et al., 2016), and the res-
taurant sector (Honisch & Ottenbacher, 2017), as well as broader des-
tination development and competitiveness (Camilleri, 2018; Temelkov
& Gulev, 2019). Nevertheless, despite the significance of tourism-re-
lated crowdfunding, research on digital storytelling in tourism-related
crowdfunding is limited in theory-oriented contexts.
2.1.2. Digital storytelling
Storytelling is an essential element of human society and culture
(Langhof & Güldenberg, 2019). Traditional storytelling is focused
mainly on listening and reading skills (e.g., oral and written stories),
but digital storytelling has a wider focus on other skills, such as inter-
activity, by promoting collaboration and technology literacy through
engagement with technology (Couldry, 2008; Eagleman, 2012;
Gottschall, 2012; Robin, 2008). Digital storytelling refers to “telling
personal stories through digital forms, storing and exchanging those
stories in sites and networks that would not exist without the world
wide web and which, because of the remediation capacity of digital
media, have multiple possibilities for transmission” (Couldry, 2008, p.
374). Therefore, digital storytelling can take advantage of user-con-
tributed content through the traditional processes of selecting a topic,
conducting some research, writing a script, and developing an inter-
esting story with combining various types of multimedia, including
computer-based graphics, recorded audio, video clips, and music
(Robin, 2008). In the digital age, storytelling plays a significantly
powerful role in learning (Nack & Waern, 2012; Robin, 2008; Sadik,
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
2008) especially in museums, art galleries and heritage sites (Bonacini
et al., 2018) where it has long been recognized as providing additional
layers of personal interpretation (Hall & McArthur, 1998). Research
suggests that consumers are highly influenced by digital storytelling
(Hassan, 2016; Klimmt et al., 2012). For example, digital storytelling
about tourist attractions is has been found to enhance their reputation
of the attractions as well as encourage visitors to share their travel
experiences through digital media (Bassano et al., 2019; Wu, 2006).
Researchers have also become interested in the role of en-
trepreneurs' digital storytelling in crowdfunding with respect to en-
couraging positive funding behavior (e.g., Doyle et al., 2017; Manning
& Bejarano, 2017; Murphy, 2018; Omeragic, 2016; Weissenfeld et al.,
2017). For example, entrepreneurs' storytelling is used in online
crowdfunding campaigns with respect to online reviews of services or
products (Weissenfeld et al., 2017) and reward narratives in equity
based crowdfunding campaigns (Murphy, 2018). In crowdfunding en-
trepreneurial pitches, visual as well as audible symbols in digital
storytelling are often used to generate meaning for investors (Doyle
et al., 2017) and influence their willingness to invest (Omeragic, 2016).
What has been described as “entrepreneurial storytelling” has been
undertaken to convey crowdfunding project value via applying co-
herent narratives with respect to social orientation of projects, tech-
nological sophistication, and differences between successful and un-
successful projects (Manning & Bejarano, 2017). Therefore, this study
regards entrepreneur generated digital storytelling content as a key
influencer in tourism-related crowdfunding performances rather than
user-generated content.
Digital storytelling is a complex and diverse marketing tool. For
example, it includes studies on story content and consumer memory
(Fournier, 1998), branding (Woodside, Sood, & Miller, 2008), buyer-
seller relationships (Gilliam & Flaherty, 2015), retail service encounters
(Gilliam & Zablah, 2013), digital leaning via video games (Padilla-Zea,
Gutiérrez, López-Arcos, Abad-Arranz, & Paderewski, 2014), and new
food products (Fenger, Aschemann-Witzel, Hansen, & Grunert, 2015;
Nie, Da Liang, & Chen, 2017). However, despite the technological and
creative processes involved in digital storytelling, theoretically based
research on digital storytelling in tourism-related crowdfunding has
been neglected. Thus, this study aims to examine the effect of fun-
draisers' digital storytelling in crowdfunding on attracting funders to
projects in the UTAUT theory context (Suki & Suki, 2017). Research on
different types of storytelling (Woodside et al., 2008) and storytelling
design (Nie et al., 2017) has helped establish their different roles. The
main storytelling aspects are usually classified in terms of: point of
view, dramatic question, emotional content, author's voice, soundtrack,
economy of story events, pace, and the rhythm of the story (Lambert,
2015). The different aspects of digital storytelling are also divided into
story (purpose, plot, narrative, dramatic question, story characters,
language usage, and emotional content), digital creation (story content,
production, and presentation), and combined elements (content detail
and evaluation) (Smeda, Dakich, & Sharda, 2010).
Digital storytelling can be made more interesting for crowdfunders'
investing in tourism by including essential factors (e.g., esthetic at-
tractiveness, configuration, consumer-oriented content) (Robin, 2008).
As a result, studies on digital storytelling tend to focus on key concepts
of esthetics, narration, and self-reference (Akgün, Keskin, Ayar, &
Erdoğan, 2015; Baumgartner, Sujan, & Bettman, 1992; Bonacini et al.,
2018; Doyle et al., 2017; Manning & Bejarano, 2017). Perceived es-
thetics is the perception of people, nature, or artefacts with “an artis-
tically beautiful or pleasing appearance” (Lavie & Tractinsky, 2004, p.
272). Esthetics can result in powerful images that influence human
behavior (Freedberg & Gallese, 2007). Narrative structure has elements
of temporality/chronology (i.e., beginning, middle, and end) and
causality in relationships (Delgadillo & Escalas, 2004). In addition, the
narrative structure of a story influences the reader's emotional reaction
as a result of the order in which the reader encounters them (Escalas &
Stern, 2003). Self-reference refers to “audiences' past experiences or
3
Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
memories that can strike an emotional chord” (Hsiao, Lu, & Lan, 2013,
p. 174). Moreover, self-reference elements of dramas or stories evoke
memories of the viewer's past personal experiences, and people may
project themselves onto situations in the story and experience emotions
similar to those of the characters (Escalas & Stern, 2003; Freedberg &
Gallese, 2007). Hence, this study considers esthetics, narration, and
self-reference as critical concepts of digital storytelling in the context of
visitor economy crowdfunding projects.
In this study, digital storytelling is considered as a reflective second
order factor with three sub-constructs (esthetics, narration, and self-
reference) in the context of the visitor economy crowdfunding. First,
this reflects that the three sub-constructs of esthetics, narration, and
self-reference are recognized as important elements of digital story-
telling in gaining consumer attention in digital media environments
(Eagleman, 2012; Gottschall, 2012; Robin, 2008). Second, prior lit-
erature suggests that the three sub-constructs of perceived esthetics,
narrative structure, and self-reference are reflective concepts (e.g.,
Akgün et al., 2015; Delgadillo & Escalas, 2004; Escalas & Stern, 2003;
Freedberg & Gallese, 2007; Hsiao et al., 2013; Lavie & Tractinsky,
2004). Finally, with a reflective second-order factor model, the second-
order factor model exhibits better adequate fit; and the second-order
factor well predicts other conceptually related constructs (Hair, Black,
Babin, & Anderson, 2010; Hair Jr, Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2017).
2.1.3. UTAUT
The UTAUT framework and concepts, mainly developed from psy-
chological and sociological theory, have been highly utilized to describe
technology acceptance and use (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Because the
model has high prediction, UTAUT has been used to research various
technologies, and utilizes the main concepts of performance ex-
pectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions
that lead to the intention to use (Venkatesh et al., 2012).
There is well documented research on information technology use
and crowdfunding participation with regard to performance expectancy
(Li et al., 2018; Moon & Hwang, 2018; Venkatesh et al., 2003;
Venkatesh et al., 2012). Performance expectancy is “the degree to
which a crowdfunding project supporter believes that using the
crowdfunding platform to fund will help him or her to gain personal
satisfaction, social interaction, social approval, and personal accom-
plishment” (Li et al., 2018, p. 407). In digital storytelling environments
(Colombo et al., 2015; Suki & Suki, 2017; Venkatesh et al., 2003;
Venkatesh et al., 2012), social influence can be described as “the in-
fluence and support from people such as friends and social circle to
encourage the use of animation and storytelling” (Suki & Suki, 2017, p.
530). Effort expectancy is widely studied in tourism-related e-com-
merce and technology use (Escobar-Rodríguez & Carvajal-Trujillo,
2014; Mohseni, Jayashree, Rezaei, Kasim, & Okumus, 2018) and is
conceptualized as “the degree of ease associated with travel consumers'
use of the technology in the context of purchasing flights from low-cost
carrier websites” (Escobar-Rodríguez & Carvajal-Trujillo, 2014, p. 78).
With respect to the facilitating condition, research has been conducted
on crowdfunding behavior, tourism innovativeness, and technology
use, and is conceptualized as “the degree to which an individual be-
lieves that an organizational and technical infrastructure exists to
support the use of the system by the online users of rural tourism ser-
vices” (San Martín & Herrero, 2012, p. 342).
There is extensive research on the behaviors of crowdfundraisers,
crowdfunders, platforms, and technology users (Gerber & Hui, 2013;
Mollick, 2014; Venkatesh et al., 2012). Perhaps not surprisingly, in-
tention is a key predictor of participatory behavior in crowdfunding
projects (Gerber & Hui, 2013; Mollick, 2014). Existing literature sug-
gests that crowdfunding behaviors are well predicted by UTAUT model
(e.g., Li et al., 2018; Moon & Hwang, 2018). The UTAUT model was
also found to be a valuable tool for understanding users' technology
adoption behavior in the organizational context (Venkatesh et al., 2003,
2012). Entrepreneurial storytelling plays a key role in digital paradigm
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
to attract potential investors in crowdfunding (e.g., Doyle et al., 2017;
Ingram Bogusz et al., 2019; Manning & Bejarano, 2017; Murphy, 2018;
Omeragic, 2016; Weissenfeld et al., 2017). However, despite the sig-
nificance of entrepreneurial storytelling in the crowdfunding organi-
zations, little research on UTAUT has been conducted on en-
trepreneurial digital storytelling in crowdfunding projects.
Furthermore, the UTAUT model has not previously been applied to
crowdfunding in tourism and related visitor economy sectors. There-
fore, this study aims to predict tourism and visitor economy crowd-
funders' behavior by using the entrepreneurial digital storytelling and
concepts of the UTAUT model.
2.2. Hypothesis development
2.2.1. Relationships between digital storytelling and the four concepts of
UTAUT
Storytelling, including its three elements (i.e., perceived esthetics,
narrative structure, and self-reference), has been getting a powerful
marketing tool for digital technology adoption (Baumgartner et al.,
1992; Delgadillo & Escalas, 2004; Hsiao et al., 2013). For example, the
esthetics of computer interfaces is a key determinant of behavioral in-
tention to visit web sites (Freedberg & Gallese, 2007; Lavie &
Tractinsky, 2004). Narratives in social network sites have become a
widely used tool to encourage consumer empathy, leading to word of
mouth and visit intention (Akgün et al., 2015; Escalas & Stern, 2003).
Self-reference is also well-recognized for creating positive consumer
emotions (Escalas & Stern, 2003; Freedberg & Gallese, 2007; Hsiao
et al., 2013). In the context of travel writing, storytelling of perceived
esthetics, narrative structure, and self-reference can evoke reader em-
pathy, which in turn influences tourists' word of mouth and visit in-
tention (Akgün et al., 2015). Similarly, digital storytelling components
on travel blogs, including perceived esthetics, narrative structure, and
self-reference has been found to have a significant effect on readers'
empathy leading to a consequent intention to attend to tour (Hsiao
et al., 2013).
Digital storytelling processes traditional storytelling methods,
combined with multimedia tools such as audio, graphic visualization,
video and web publishing, into a narrative configuration such as video
or animation (Weissenfeld et al., 2017). Due to information and com-
munication technology (ICT) innovations, such as sensor-based smart
phones, location technologies, and multi-media content platforms, in-
formational and symbolic forms of digital storytelling are now pro-
duced, copied, and distributed on an unprecedented scale (Couldry,
2008; Nack & Waern, 2012). From a tourism-related perspective, the
commercial application of digital storytelling can therefore be an ap-
propriate means of integrating activities, the destination, and wireless
value-added services in the attraction of visitors (Wu, 2006).
In crowdfunding the adoption and use of Internet-based visual and
audible technology in entrepreneurial storytelling critically impacts the
impressions made by potential funders (Doyle et al., 2017; Manning &
Bejarano, 2017). In tourism-related sectors, digital storytelling has been
identified as significantly related to digital technology use and accep-
tance in, for example, archaeological museums (Bonacini et al., 2018).
Similarly, storytelling about tourist destinations is closely associated
with acceptance and use of digital technologies in tourism marketing
(Bassano et al., 2019). Digital storytelling applications in tourism pro-
motion are significantly supportive by UTAUT, and the four key con-
structs (Hassan, 2016). Based on previous research, we propose four
hypotheses from visitor economy consumers as follows:
H1. Digital storytelling has a positive effect on performance expectancy
of crowdfunding.
H2. Digital storytelling has a positive effect on social influence of
crowdfunding.
H3. Digital storytelling has a positive effect on effort expectancy of
4
Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
crowdfunding.
H4. Digital storytelling has a positive effect on facilitating condition of
crowdfunding.
2.2.2. Relationships between four concepts and behavioral intention of
UTAUT
UTAUT related theory has been used to evaluate the likelihood of
success of innovative technology adoption and to better understand
audience drivers (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The incorporation of three
concepts into “UTAUT2” (i.e., hedonic motivation, habit, and price
value) considerably enhanced the explanation of variance in intention
to adopt and use technology among mobile Internet technology users
(Venkatesh et al., 2012).
From the perspective of tourism-related sectors, several studies on
tourism e-commerce have utilized UTAUT settings as an integrating
research framework (e.g., Escobar-Rodríguez & Carvajal-Trujillo, 2014;
San Martín & Herrero, 2012; Tan et al., 2017; Tan & Ooi, 2018). For
example, from a study of Spanish consumers of low-cost carrier web-
sites, the chief constructs of UTAUT environments (e.g., performance
expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating condition)
were found to influence travel consumers' behavior intention to pur-
chase online (Escobar-Rodríguez & Carvajal-Trujillo, 2014). Among
consumers of rural tourism services Internet consumption intention
resulted from levels of performance as well as effort expectancy (San
Martín & Herrero, 2012). In mobile tourism commerce, travel con-
sumers' intention to adopt mobile applications is significantly influ-
enced by social influence, effort expectancy, and facilitating condition
(Tan et al., 2017). In a study of mobile tourism shoppers, travel con-
sumer intention is positively affected by performance expectancy, social
influence, and effort expectancy (Tan & Ooi, 2018), which in turn in-
fluences travel consumers' behavioral intention (Albayrak, Caber, &
Çömen, 2016). In leisure and tourism-related crowdfunding invest-
ments, crowdfunding participation performance has highly significant
effects on investors' word of mouth and re-participation, implying that
higher performance expectation leads to higher intention to crowd-
funding (Kim & Hall, 2019b).
Interestingly, user intention to utilize animation as well as story-
telling in the UTAUT is highly affected by performance expectancy,
effort expectancy, and facilitating condition (Suki & Suki, 2017).
Among Chinese crowdfunders behavioral intention to invest in crowd-
funding entrepreneurs is affected by performance expectancy, social
influence, effort expectancy, and facilitating condition in the UTAUT
framework (Li et al., 2018). In contrast, in a UTAUT study of the
crowdfunding of sustainable technologies, the fundamental factors
driving funder intention to invest are social influence and effort ex-
pectancy (Moon & Hwang, 2018). Accordingly, we postulate four hy-
potheses regarding consumers' behavior of crowdfunding applying the
UTAUT model in tourism-related sectors as follows:
H5. Performance expectancy has a positive effect on behavioral
intention to crowdfunding.
H6. Social influence has a positive effect on behavioral intention to
crowdfunding.
H7. Effort expectancy has a positive effect on behavioral intention to
crowdfunding.
H8. Facilitating condition has a positive effect on behavioral intention
to crowdfunding.
Drawing upon these hypotheses utilizing the UTAUT concepts, we
suggest the integrated model in Fig. 1. This work investigates associa-
tions between the independent variable of digital storytelling as a
second order factor (perceived esthetics, narrative structure, and self-
reference), mediators (performance expectancy, social influence, effort
expectancy, and facilitating condition), and the output variable of
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
Fig. 1. Proposed research model.
intent to crowdfunding participation.
3. Method
3.1. Measurement
This study applies multi-measurement questions to address the
disadvantages of solo item measures (e.g., Churchill Jr., 1979). After an
extensive literature review on crowdfunding, digital storytelling, and
UTAUT (Bassano et al., 2019; Colombo et al., 2015; Couldry, 2008;
Gerber & Hui, 2013; Li et al., 2018; Manning & Bejarano, 2017; Mollick,
2014; Moon & Hwang, 2018; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Venkatesh et al.,
2012), the questionnaire initially comprised 32 items for measuring the
eight concepts. The constructs related to digital storytelling are per-
ceived esthetics, narrative structure, and self-reference. The main con-
structs related to UTAUT are perceived expectancy, social influence,
effort expectancy, facilitating condition, and intention to crowd-
funding.
Questions are measured by 7-point Likert-type scales. In addition,
nine items concerning crowdfunding participant behavior (financial
characteristics of project, involvement in crowdfunding outside of
Korea, length of participation, experience, frequency of visiting plat-
forms, average investment amount, primary reason to invest, projects
participated in, and platforms used) were utilized in this study. Seven
questions associated with socio-demographics were also included (e.g.,
age, gender, education, monthly family income, marital status, occu-
pation, residential district).
3.2. Operational definition of variables
3.2.1. Perceived esthetics
The construct of perceived esthetics has been operationalized with
four items as recommended by previous studies (Akgün et al., 2015;
Bonacini et al., 2018; Hsiao et al., 2013; Lavie & Tractinsky, 2004).
These items included esthetic, pleasant, fascinating, and clear digital
storytelling by the crowdfundraiser (e.g., “I think that the digital
storytelling of this crowdfundraiser looks esthetic”) (see Table 2).
3.2.2. Narrative structure
The construct of narrative structure has been operationalized with
5
Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
four items as suggested by Akgün et al. (2015), Delgadillo and Escalas
(2004), Hsiao et al. (2013), and Manning and Bejarano (2017). These
questions comprise structural factors of digital storytelling related to
crowdfundraiser's thinking, explanation, delineation, and focus (e.g.,
“The digital storytelling lets you know what this crowdfundraiser is
thinking and feeling”).
3.2.3. Self-reference
The construct of self-reference has been operationalized with four
items utilized in previous literature (Akgün et al., 2015; Baumgartner
et al., 1992; Doyle et al., 2017; Hsiao et al., 2013). These items included
digital storytelling contents of making audiences feeling their similar
situations, experiences, and memories (e.g., “When I see the digital
storytelling of this crowdfundraiser, I thought about a similar situation
which my friends had experienced”).
3.2.4. Performance expectancy
The construct of performance expectancy has been operationalized
with four questions from earlier literature (Li et al., 2018; Moon &
Hwang, 2018; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Venkatesh et al., 2012). The
question items incorporated better services, increased personal income,
more convenience, and incentive from visitor economy crowdfunding
(e.g., “Visitor economy crowdfunding would be useful for improving
better services for me”).
3.2.5. Social influence
The construct of social influence in this work was based on four
questions from prior literature (Colombo et al., 2015; Suki & Suki,
2017; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Venkatesh et al., 2012). These items in-
cluded persons close to me are encouraging, wanting, following, and
helping for investing in visitor economy crowdfunding (e.g., “People
around me are encouraging me to invest in visitor economy crowd-
funding”).
3.2.6. Effort expectancy
The construct of effort expectancy is based on four questions from
earlier literature (Escobar-Rodríguez & Carvajal-Trujillo, 2014;
Venkatesh et al., 2003; Venkatesh et al., 2012). The question items were
comprised of being easy to participate in, to learn, to understand, and to
invest in the visitor economy crowdfunding (e.g., “It is likely to be easy
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
to participate in the visitor economy crowdfunding project using this
crowdfunding platform”).
3.2.7. Facilitating condition
The construct of facilitating condition is operationalized with four
questions based on items recommended in San Martín and Herrero
(2012), Venkatesh et al. (2003), and Venkatesh et al. (2012). The items
included problem solving ability, payment systems, communication
channels, knowledge, and experience of the crowdfunding platform
(e.g., “This crowdfunding platform is able to give me enough technical
help to solve the problems that have arisen when I invest in the visitor
economy crowdfunding project”).
3.2.8. Intention to crowdfund
The construct of intention to crowdfund is operationalized by four
questions as proposed in prior literature (Gerber & Hui, 2013; Mollick,
2014; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Venkatesh et al., 2012). The items in-
corporated willingness to invest sooner or later in and encouraging
people around them to invest in visitor economy crowdfunding (e.g., “I
have a willingness to invest in visitor economy crowdfunding”).
3.3. Content validity and pre-test
The questions were originally written in English. Questions were
then converted into Korean by three doctoral students proficient in both
languages. The survey questionnaire was then translated back into
English so that incongruities could be rectified (Brislin, 1970). Three
academics knowledgeable about this area of research assessed the
content validity of the questionnaire. Five practitioners of crowd-
funding also evaluated whether the questionnaire appropriately as-
sessed visitor economy crowdfunding consumers' behavior. As a result
of these steps, one item on self-reference was deleted from the ques-
tionnaire because of overlap. In addition, the screening question was
modified from “In the past year, have you participated in any tourism-
related crowdfunding project of reward, equity, bond, or lending?” to
“In the past 12 months, have you participated in any crowdfunding
project for reward, equity/bond, or/and lending with the visitor
economy sector?”
A pilot study using seven graduate students majoring in tourism
studies who had experience of visitor economy crowdfunding further
assessed the survey instrument. These candidates were chosen because
they understand both the visitor economy and crowdfunding fields.
Based on their comments, several items on digital storytelling of three
sub-constructs were reworded. In particular, the students said that
general information questions were confusing in terms of the visitor
economy sector and crowdfunding types. Thus, specific examples and
explanations were provided at the beginning of the questionnaire. Fifty
crowdfunders who had experienced visitor economy crowdfunding in
the prior year completed a pretest. Respondents were requested to
provide feedback as to whether any changes, revisions, additions, or
deletions were necessary. This resulted in further revisions of some
questions on the five main constructs of UTAUT in crowdfunding to
assure clarity. After completing these changes, the adjusted ques-
tionnaire was utilized for the main survey.
3.4. Data collection
Online surveys are commonly used because they result in rapid
responses, accessing a variety of populations, and expense reduction
(Wright, 2005). Internet surveys are deemed particularly appropriate
for data collection for this research since the study examines visitor
economy crowdfunder behavior with crowdfunding platforms. An In-
ternet survey firm having over three million panelists (Embrain, 2019)
was hired to administer the survey instrument. Subjects were drawn
from their panel using a quota sampling method. The company adheres
strictly to protocols designed to ensure response validity. The protocols
6
Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
the firm uses are also designed to verify respondent's personal in-
formation. A screening question was placed at the beginning of the
survey and subjects who did not qualify for participation in the survey
were deleted from the sample frame. Respondents who completed the
screening question successfully were required to name a visitor
economy crowdfunding experience they had in the prior 12 months.
The crowdfunding experience named by each subject was then pre-
sented to that subject on each subsequent item. The multiple-choice
items were rotated to avoid response bias (Lee, Lee, & Lee, 2008). An
automated procedure removed respondents who answered too fast or
used repetitive patterns; these questionnaires were not included in the
subsequent analysis.
The sample profile matched the age and gender profile of Korean
mobile Internet users (Korea Internet & Security Agency, 2019). The
subjects were all Koreans, 18 or more years old, who had experienced
visitor economy crowdfunding in the previous year. The Internet survey
was conducted between April 1 and 11, 2019. The letter to request
participation in this survey was emailed to 9710 panelists since the
survey company generally gets complete responses of approximately
5% from initial invitations and our comprehensive model having eight
constructs and 32 indicators needs a sample size of around 400 cases
(Hair et al., 2010). The email invitation was opened by 2616 in-
dividuals and 2353 respondents clicked through to the questionnaire.
Each subject was presented with the screening question (“In the past 12
months, have you participated in any crowdfunding project for reward,
equity/bond, or/and lending with the tourism and visitor economy
sector?”). Of those who were presented with the screening question
1489 panelists responded in the affirmative and, hence, were qualified
to answer to the questions. A total of 485 respondents completed the
questions. After outliers and other respondents (e.g., do not remember
the crowdfunding project name) were eliminated, 450 completed re-
sponses were used for the analysis. The response rate represents 32.6%
(485 completed surveys divided by 1489 respondents who successfully
passed the screening question) (American Association for Public
Opinion Research (AAPOR), 2016).
3.5. Data analysis
Data collected was analyzed using analysis of moment structures
(AMOS) 22.0 SEM based on Arbuckle (2013). SEM has been developed
for assessing if the suggested model or hypothetical structure well de-
scribes the collected data (Hair et al., 2010). Using the double stage
method of Anderson and Gerbing (1992), we tested the collected data
for hypothesis and structural model after testing the convergence va-
lidity and discriminant validity. The normality of the data has been
examined applying maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) in AMOS
(Kline, 2011). The absolute values of the distortion and the kurtosis
have ranges of 0.102 to 0.554 and 0.072 to 0.898 respectively that both
belong to the traditional standard of multivariate normality (Hair et al.,
2010) (see Table 2). MLE has been used to check research models since
it is more effective and less biased than other common approaches if the
multivariate normality assumption is established (Byrne, 2001). Blunch
(2008) asserts that MLE is a flexible method for assessment with the
parameter values to attain optimal model suitability.
To minimize common method bias, various procedural actions were
used to prevent or offset these effects (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, &
Podsakoff, 2003). First, a statement assuring the anonymity and ex-
planation of the study purpose was placed at the start of the ques-
tionnaire. Second, the questions are presented in a mixed order, so
questions belonging to the same dimension do not appear together.
Third, the introduction stated that questions have no right or wrong
answer in order to reduce respondent anxiety. Fourth, to ensure the
validity of the response, the definition of the visitor economic crowd-
funding was provided at the beginning of the survey with examples of
economic sectors. Fifth, the survey was made up of three sections: the
first contains general information, the second questions associated with
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
the study framework, and the third individual inquiries about demo-
graphic context. The order of the survey questions was also changed so
that all respondents received survey questions in different orders.
As a statistical examination of the common method variance,
Harman's single factor analysis has been performed to determine if the
collected data revealed common method bias (Harman, 1967). All of
the self-reported questions have been included in Exploratory Factor
Analysis (EFA). There is a common method bias when a single factor
exists or if one variable accounts for over 50% of the variables' var-
iance. Six factors were identified as EFA results, with 39.17% of the
variance being main factors followed by 10.58%, 6.78%, 4.63%, 4.49%,
and 3.92%. Another test was conducted on the hypotheses and only one
factor specified (Korsgaard & Roberson, 1995). The result indicates that
the hypothesis framework is more suited to the data than the single
factor framework. In addition, the hypothesis framework was statisti-
cally significant compared to the single factor framework. That is, the
difference in chi-square statistics between the hypothesis as well as
single factor frameworks is significant (χ2 (2303.0)/df (15) = 153.5,
p < .001). Therefore, the two statistical examinations show that
common method bias is not a problem in this work.
4. Results
4.1. Respondents' profile
The majority of subjects were males (51.6%) and married (50.5%)
(see Table 1). Slightly more than a quarter (26.5%) were in the
20–29 years age group. Subjects who were at university or who had
university degrees comprise 58.7% of subjects. Almost a third of sub-
jects (30.2%) earned family incomes of 4.00–5.99 million KRW (ap-
proximately US$ 3422–5133) per month. Office workers comprised the
largest proportion of the sample (45.1%) and a majority lived in me-
tropolitan areas (60.0%). A majority of the respondents (61.8%) par-
ticipated in profit crowdfunding projects and a small number of subjects
(11.6%) were involved in crowdfunding outside of Korea.
Fewer than half (42.3%) had less than seven months' experience
with visitor economy crowdfunding prior to completing the survey.
Around half of respondents recently participated in visitor economy
crowdfunding for product reward (49.6%). Around a third of partici-
pants visited crowdfunding platforms quarterly or more frequently
(32.2%). A majority of respondents invested an average funding
amount of 100,000–900,000 KRW in visitor economy related crowd-
funding (41.6%). More than a third of the sample had product reward
as the primary reason for crowdfunding in visitor economy areas
(39.8%). Travel and leisure were the main type of visitor economy-
related crowdfunding that respondents participated in (30.2%), fol-
lowed by other (food/beverage, hobbies, events) (26.2%). The most
frequently visited platform was Wadiz (41.1%). According to the so-
ciodemographic characteristics of this survey, the sample appears to be
highly-educated, young, and rather wealthy.
4.2. Measurement model
Using AMOS 22.0, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) deletes four
items by modifying the measurement framework by deleting questions
that hold a large residual variance with other questions (see Table 2)
(Arbuckle, 2013; Babin & Boles, 1998). The good model fit has been
shown: χ2 = 649.079/df = 306 ≤ 3.0, p < .001 (Hayduck, 1987);
goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.901 ≥ 0.9 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988); ad-
justed goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) =0.878 ≥ 0.8 (Scott, 1994);
normed fit index (NFI) =0.915 ≥ 0.9 (Bentler & Bonett, 1980); com-
parative fit index (CFI) =0.953 ≥ 0.9 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988); root mean
square error of approximation (RMSEA) is 0.050 at the 90% confidence
interval ≤ 0.08 (Browne & Cudeck, 1993). The results indicate that all
values exceed the recommended criteria and are suitable for the col-
lected data.
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Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
Convergent validity has been confirmed applying three standards.
The standardized factor loading of the questions should be statistically
significant and over 0.7 (Gefen, Straub, & Boudreau, 2000). The com-
posite reliability (CR) and Cronbach's alpha for the concepts should be
over 0.7 according to Nunnally (1967). The average variance extracted
(AVE) for all concepts should be over 0.5 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981).
Accordingly, the standardized factor loadings are all significant and
over 0.7 as shown in Table 2. The CR for each concept is over 0.7,
Cronbach's alpha for the concepts is higher than 0.7, and the AVE for all
concepts exceeds 0.5 (Table 3). Hence, the convergent validity has been
supported for all the constructs. The discriminant validity of the mea-
surement framework is tested with matching the square root of the AVE
for the concepts by the correlation between the concept and the cor-
responding concepts. When the square root of the AVE is larger than the
correlations between the concept and the corresponding concepts,
discriminant validity has been confirmed (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The
square root of the AVE for all concepts is over the correlations between
that each concept and the corresponding concepts. Hence, discriminant
validity has been confirmed (see Table 3).
4.3. Structural model
Fig. 2 demonstrates the assessments in the proposed research model.
Specifically, all the values show evidence of a good model fit for the
structural framework (χ2 = 628.242, df = 309, p < .001;
GFI = 0.903; AGFI = 0.881; NFI = 0.918; CFI = 0.956;
RMSEA = 0.048). As shown in Fig. 2, all eight relationships have been
supported according to the path analysis results. Regarding R square of
variance explained, digital storytelling directly explains the variance of
performance expectancy (R2 = 0.533), social influence (R2 = 0.248),
effort expectancy (R2 = 0.502), and facilitating condition (R2 = 0.584)
(Hair et al., 2010). Importantly, the variance in intention to crowd-
funding (R2 = 0.486) is considerably predicted directly by the effects of
performance expectancy, social influence, effort expectancy, and facil-
itating condition. Additionally, digital storytelling as a reflective and
second order factor directly explains perceived esthetics (R2 = 0.738),
narrative structure (R2 = 0.692), and self-reference (R2 = 0.513).
H1, H2, H3, and H4 claim positive relationships among digital
storytelling, performance expectancy, social influence, effort ex-
pectancy, and facilitating condition. Hypothesis testing shows that di-
gital storytelling positively influences performance expectancy
(γ = 0.730, p < .001), social influence (γ = 0.498, p < .001), effort
expectancy (γ = 0.708, p < .001), and facilitating condition
(γ = 0.764, p < .001). H1, H2, H3, and H4 are thus supported. H5,
H6, H7, and H8 theorize positive relationships between performance
expectancy, social influence, effort expectancy, facilitating condition,
and intention to crowdfunding. Intention to crowdfunding is positively
influenced by performance expectancy (β = 0.251, p < .001), social
influence (β = 0.197, p < .001), effort expectancy (β = 0.162,
p < .05), and facilitating condition (β = 0.272, p < .01), thus sup-
porting Hypotheses 5, 5, 7, and 8.
With the reflective second order factor, digital storytelling having
three elements as sub-constructs (perceived esthetics, narrative struc-
ture, and self-reference) has solid reliability and validity in terms of
factor loadings of over 0.7, AVE of 0.616, CR of 0.947, Cronbach's α of
0.903, and discriminant validity (Hair Jr et al., 2017; Ramani & Kumar,
2008) (see Table 3). Digital storytelling is also highly associated with
perceived esthetics (λ = 0.859, p < .001), narrative structure
(λ = 0.832, p < .001), and self-reference (λ = 0.715, p < .001).
Three paths with factor loadings are found to be significantly over 0.7,
thus supporting the three paths as indicators.
Further, in testing the mediated effects, performance expectancy,
social influence, effort expectancy, and facilitating condition have been
found to mediate the effect on the relationship between digital story-
telling and intention to crowdfund (Zhao, Lynch, and Chen (2010). The
indirect effect (mediation) in this study was measured by bootstrapping
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638

Table 1
Respondents' demographic characteristic.
Characteristics n (450) % (100) Characteristics n (450) % (100)

Gender Career participation length

Male 232 51.6 Less than 7 months 190 42.3
Female 218 48.4 7–12 months 128 28.4
Age 13–36 months 118 26.3
Under 20 years old 33 7.3 37 months and over 14 3.0
20–29 years old 119 26.5 Experienced fieldsb
30–39 years old 117 26.0 Product reward 223 49.6
40–49 years old 111 24.7 Non-product reward (e.g., services, experiences) 201 44.7
50–59 years old 50 11.1 Investment 147 32.7
60 years old and over 20 4.4 Lending 102 22.7
Educational level Other 3 0.7
Less than or high school diploma 87 19.3 Frequency of visiting platforms
2-year college 42 9.3 Daily 13 2.9
University 264 58.7 Weekly 62 13.8
Graduate school or higher 57 12.7 Monthly 104 23.1
Marital status Quarterly 145 32.2
Single 227 50.5 Yearly 126 28.0
Married 213 47.3 Average investment amount
Divorced 10 2.2 Less than 30,000 KRW 66 14.7
Monthly household income From 30,000 to 90,000 KRW 125 27.8
Less than 2.00 million KRWa 19 4.2 From 100,000 to 900,000 KRW 187 41.6
From 2.00 to 3.99 million KRW 114 25.3 From 1 million KRW to over 72 15.9
From 4.00 to 5.99 million KRW 136 30.2 Primary reason for crowdfunding
From 6.00 to 6.99 million KRW 94 20.9 Product reward 179 39.8
From 8.00 to over million KRW 87 19.3 Non-product reward (e.g., services, experiences) 144 32.0
Occupation Investment 77 17.1
Professionals 50 11.1 Lending 47 10.4
Business owner 28 6.2 Other 3 0.7
Service worker 18 4.0 Participated in visitor economy-related projects
Office worker 203 45.1 Travel and leisure 136 30.2
Civil servant 14 3.1 Sports 12 2.7
Home maker 36 8.0 Films 51 11.3
Retiree 3 0.7 Game 27 6.0
Student 72 16.0 Art/Culture (fine art, craft, photography) 99 22.0
Unemployed 15 3.3 Music 7 1.6
Other 11 2.4 Other (food/beverage, hobbies, events, etc.) 118 26.2
Residential district Used visitor economy-related platforms
Metropolitan areas 270 60.0 OhMyCompnay 28 6.2
Non-metropolitan areas 180 40.0 Wadiz 185 41.1
Financial characteristics of project Corwdy 54 12.0
Profit crowdfunding project 278 61.8 Tumblebug 73 16.2
Non-profit crowdfunding project 99 22.0 HappyBean 30 6.7
Don't know 73 16.2 Other 80 17.8
Involved in crowdfunding outside of Korea
Yes 52 11.6
No 398 88.4

a
US$ 1 = KRW (Korean Won) 1169 as of May 7, 2019.
b
Multi-response.

the maximum likelihood of 5000 re-samplings with bias-corrected
confidence intervals of 90% (Hair Jr et al., 2017). When considering
multiple mediators, the researcher should analyze the model that in-
cludes all relevant mediators at the same time. Therefore, this study
uses the analysis procedure as suggested by Hair Jr et al. (2017) and
Zhao et al. (2010). The results show that the relationship between di-
gital storytelling and intention to crowdfunding was positively and
significantly mediated by performance expectancy (β = 0.107,
t = 3.589, p < .001), social influence (β = 0.103, t = 3.602,
p < .001), effort expectancy (β = 0.114, t = 3.437, p < .001), and
facilitating condition (β = 0.120, t = 2.961, p < .001) (Table 4).
effort expectancy and intention to crowdfunding which has the lowest t-
value among eight significant relationships. A control variable was in-
cluded to test whether research hypotheses could still be upheld. The
data still supported eight hypotheses when the seven different projects
included. Therefore, the results supported that control factor of parti-
cipated visitor economy-related projects was not biased in the current
research model. Furthermore, all the path coefficients and t-values in
the research model were very similar with those of the control variable.
5. Discussion and conclusion

4.4. Inclusion of control variable
To determine whether participated visitor economy-related projects
influence the research model, this study tested the different projects
participated by funders as control variable. The results of this analysis
verified the research model with the seven categorized projects (see
Table 1). Specifically, the participated different projects were con-
trolled to warrant a precise assessment of the relationship between
5.1. Discussions
Digital storytelling by fundraisers is potentially a key factor in at-
tracting supporters to invest in crowdfunding projects. Despite the
important role of entrepreneurs' digital storytelling in crowdfunding
campaigns to attract investors, research regarding the effect of digital
storytelling on persuading investors is scarce in the visitor economy
crowdfunding sector and leisure and tourism-related fields. To fill this
gap, the goal of this work is to build and verify a theoretically

8
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638

Table 2
Results of factor analysis and assessment of normality.
Constructs Factor loading Skew-ness kurto-sis

Perceived esthetics
1. I think that the digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser looks esthetic. 0.781 −0.115 −0.074
2. I think that the digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser looks pleasant. 0.764 −0.166 0.077
3. I think that the digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser looks fascinating. 0.788 −0.205 −0.106
4. I think that the digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser looks clear. 0.766 −0.102 −0.072

Narrative structure
1. The digital storytelling lets you know what this crowdfundraiser is thinking and feeling. 0.796 −0.153 −0.097
2. The digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser explains why things happen, that is, what causes things to happen. 0.826 −0.321 0.239
3. The digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser has a well delineated beginning (initial event), middle (crisis or turning point) and 0.744 −0.282 0.464
ending (conclusion).
4. The digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser focuses on specific, particular events rather than on generalizations or abstractions. 0.727 −0.208 0.183

Self-reference
1. When I see the digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser, I thought about similar situation which my friends had experienced. 0.782 −0.219 −0.319
2. When I hear the digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser, I thought about my past experiences. 0.854 −0.409 −0.094
3. When I read the digital storytelling of this crowdfundraiser, I felt that I have similar experiences. 0.836 −0.354 −0.162

Performance expectancy
1. Visitor economy crowdfunding would be useful for improving better services for me. 0.792 −0.213 0.212
2. Visitor economy crowdfunding increases my personal income.a – – –
3. Visitor economy crowdfunding makes products more convenient for me. 0.781 −0.323 0.432
4. Visitor economy crowdfunding provides incentive to me.a – – –

Social influence
1. People around me are encouraging me to invest in visitor economy crowdfunding. 0.829 −0.249 −0.505
2. Most of the people who are important to me want to invest in visitor economy crowdfunding. 0.872 −0.128 −0.497
3. My friends are likely to follow if they were encouraged to investing in visitor economy crowdfunding. 0.781 −0.226 −0.198
4. People around me are likely to give me advice and help for investing in visitor economy crowdfunding. 0.822 −0.300 −0.509

Effort expectancy
1. It is likely to be easy to participate in the visitor economy crowdfunding project using this crowdfunding platform. 0.838 −0.457 0.220
2. It is likely to be easy to learn to invest in the visitor economy crowdfunding project using this crowdfunding platform. 0.818 −0.201 −0.424
3. Investing in the visitor economy crowdfunding project through this crowdfunding platform is likely to be straightforward and easy to 0.842 −0.436 0.232
understand.
4. It is likely to be easy to invest in the visitor economy crowdfunding project using this crowdfunding platform. 0.824 −0.462 0.210

Facilitating condition
1. This crowdfunding platform is able to give me enough technical help to solve the problems that have arisen when I invest in the visitor 0.710 −0.466 0.571
economy crowdfunding project.
2. This crowdfunding platform has enough payment systems to invest in the visitor economy crowdfunding project. 0.788 −0.463 0.388
3. This crowdfunding platform is building channels (mail, chat, bulletin boards) to communicate with this fundraiser for the – – –
crowdfunding project.a
4. This crowdfunding platform has sufficient knowledge and experience in investing in the visitor economy crowdfunding project. 0.781 −0.341 0.235

Intention to crowdfunding
1. I have a willingness to invest in visitor economy crowdfunding. 0.850 −0.554 0.898
2. I would like to encourage people around me to invest in visitor economy crowdfunding.a – – –
3. I have a willingness to invest in visitor economy crowdfunding regularly. 0.750 −0.342 0.153
4. I have a willingness to invest the visitor economy crowdfunding within a year. 0.843 −0.544 0.498

a
The item was deleted following confirmatory factor analysis.

Table 3
Tests of convergent and discriminant validity.
Construct 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. Perceived esthetics 0.881

2. Narrative structure 0.621 0.858
3. Self-reference 0.549 0.493 0.770
4. Performance expectancy 0.530 0.417 0.423 0.900
5. Social influence 0.549 0.330 0.463 0.406 0.872
6. Effort expectancy 0.521 0.555 0.300 0.458 0.236 0.876
7. Facilitating condition 0.494 0.583 0.316 0.453 0.342 0.624 0.848
8. Intention to crowdfunding 0.464 0.460 0.345 0.471 0.414 0.474 0.499 0.835
9. Digital storytelling 0.881 0.858 0.770 0.547 0.478 0.563 0.568 0.511 0.715
AVE 0.700 0.698 0.785 0.809 0.760 0.767 0.720 0.775 0.616
Composite reliability (CR) 0.857 0.851 0.864 0.764 0.896 0.899 0.804 0.856 0.947
Cronbach's alpha (α) 0.857 0.855 0.863 0.764 0.895 0.899 0.806 0.855 0.903
Mean 4.657 4.833 4.339 4.766 4.021 5.025 4.749 4.842 4.610
Standard deviation 1.130 1.132 1.279 1.040 1.389 1.130 1.163 1.188 1.180

Note: The diagonal values of bold strokes in the “correlation of constructs” figures are the square root of the AVE.
The figures in italics are correlations with elements of the reflective second order factor which are not the relations of cause and effect so these corrections do not
affect the discriminant validity.

9
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
Fig. 2. Path analysis results.
Table 4
Testing mediated effects.
Path
Digital storytelling → Performance expectancy → Intention to crowdfunding
Digital storytelling → Social influence → Intention to crowdfunding
Digital storytelling → Effort expectancy → Intention to crowdfunding
Digital storytelling → Facilitating condition → Intention to crowdfunding
⁎⁎
p < .01.
⁎⁎⁎
p < .001.
integrated research framework including three-dimensions of digital
storytelling (i.e., perceived esthetics, narrative structure, and self-re-
ference) and five key concepts of UTAUT (i.e., performance expectancy,
social influence, effort expectancy, facilitating condition, and beha-
vioral intention). Accordingly, to do this, this study employed and de-
veloped the SEM approach to test the data collected through the online
survey based on quota sampling of South Korean mobile Internet users'
gender and age, resulting in a total of 450 respondents.
The results of this study indicate that digital storytelling has the
greatest effect on facilitating conditions perceived by investors in the
proposed research model. This suggests that better digital storytelling
on crowdfunding projects positively influences investor likelihood to
fund on specific platforms. In other words, a high quality of esthetics,
well-framed narration, and digital storytelling that evokes consumer
sympathy would increase the perceived facilitating condition of a
platform by investors, which in turn leads to their intention to fund.
Digital storytelling also has a strong impact on crowdfunding investors'
perceptions of performance expectancy within the UTAUT model. It
implies that appropriate digital storytelling results in investors thinking
that visitor economy crowdfunding is beneficial to them by providing
better service and convenience. In addition, digital storytelling con-
siderably influences effort expectancy perceived by investors under this
study framework, revealing that good digital storytelling convinces
investors to think that participating in visitor economy crowdfunding
via online platforms requires little effort. Storytelling in digital tech-
nologies also affects investor perceptions of social influence from what
their friends and family think of investor behavior on leisure and
10
Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
Indirect effect (mediated) t-value p-value
0.107⁎⁎⁎ 3.589 < 0.001
0.103⁎⁎⁎ 3.602 < 0.001
0.114⁎⁎⁎ 3.437 < 0.001
0.120⁎⁎ 2.961 < 0.01
tourism-related crowdfunding. This demonstrates that well-built digital
storytelling contributes to the perceived positive social influence of
people in the context of leisure and tourism-related crowdfunding
participation.
Investors' crowdfunding participation intention in leisure and
tourism-related sectors is most influenced by the perceived facilitating
condition of platforms in the research model. These findings suggest
that the funders' perceived facilitating condition of platforms is the best
driver for their actual participation in crowdfunding in visitor economy
sectors. Investors' perceived performance expectancy influences po-
tential supporters' intention to crowdfund. It explains investors' per-
ceived better services and greater convenience from visitor economy
crowdfunding when this is closely associated with their behavioral in-
tention to participate in crowdfunding. The perceived social influence
of people close to investors influences the investors' behavioral inten-
tion to crowdfund. This implies that if crowdfunders think that other
people like, support, or want to crowdfund, the funders are then more
likely to crowdfund. Investors' perceived effort expectancy is associated
with their behavioral intention to participate in crowdfunding for the
leisure and tourism-related fields. This finding indicates that people's
perceived easiness to use crowdfunding sites is important to their be-
havioral intention to crowdfund in the sector.
Intriguingly, in this study, investors' perceived esthetics is found to
have the strongest association with digital storytelling of entrepreneurs
in the proposed research framework. It reveals that appropriately cus-
tomer-oriented digital storytelling design plays a major positive role in
persuading supporters of visitor economy crowdfunding. Investors also
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
perceived narrative structure as strongly associated with crowdfunding
digital storytelling in this research model. This suggests that if investors
perceive a well-structured narration from entrepreneurs' digital story-
telling, such as an initial event and turning point that led to the
crowdfund product offer, and conclusion, then supporters are more
likely to invest in visitor economy crowdfunding projects. Finally, there
is a significant link between self-reference and digital storytelling in the
UTAUT theory context. The finding shows that if investors self-re-
ference fundraisers' digital storytelling, such as making them reflect on
their experiences or memories, then investors are more likely to fund
the project.
5.2. Theoretical implications
This work provides the following major insights to theory formation
and verification. The first contribution is in applying the UTAUT model
for crowdfunders in the context of leisure and tourism-related fields. As
a result, this study extends the generalizability of UTAUT from in-
formation technology users to leisure and tourism-related crowd-
funding consumers in the broader visitor economy. The second major
insight is in the addition of digital storytelling into UTAUT concepts in
tourism related crowdfunding. This research demonstrates that when
predicting funder intention to crowdfund, the digital storytelling con-
struct is a key antecedent. The third major theoretical contribution is in
adding digital storytelling as a reflective second order factor consisting
of perceived esthetics, narrative structure, and self-reference. The final
contribution is in the extension of the relationships of UTAUT con-
structs to visitor economy sectors, which incorporate tourism, leisure,
hospitality, and events (Connell et al., 2017; Kim & Hall, 2019b).
The findings related to the greatest impact of digital storytelling on
the facilitating condition in this research model substantially extends
previous studies addressing this relationship (Suki & Suki, 2017). The
result of this study regarding the significant impact of digital story-
telling on performance expectancy offers new insights by addressing the
relationship between storytelling and proposed performance in tourism
related digital marketing environments in destinations (Bassano et al.,
2019). The strong relationship between digital storytelling and effort
expectancy also contributes to awareness of funder behavior for visitor
economy crowdfunding, extending previous research on the associa-
tions between electronic word-of-mouth and effort expectancy of
UTAUT in the digital marketplace for tourism promotion (Hassan,
2016).
This research found that the closely significant effect of the facil-
itating condition on visitor economy consumers' intention to crowd-
funding expands prior findings on the association of facilitating con-
ditions with behavioral intention to adopt mobile applications among
travel consumers from the UTAUT framework (Tan et al., 2017). The
positive effect of performance expectancy on crowdfunders' behavioral
intention offers a new perspective on visitor economy crowdfunding
literature in the UTAUT, broadening earlier literature on the association
of performance expectancy with behavioral intention for mobile
tourism shopping (Tan & Ooi, 2018). This study also demonstrates that
social influence on funders influences their intention to crowdfunding,
reinforcing the identified role of social influence in intention to fund
crowdfunding projects within UTAUT in Asian cultures (Li et al., 2018).
The finding of effects of effort expectancy on funders' intention to
crowdfunding also offers new insights, expanding Moon and Hwang's
(2018) study regarding effort expectancy and use intention as an al-
ternative means for funding sustainable appropriate technology.
Identifying the very high importance of perceived esthetics in this
application of UTAUT constructs extends previous studies on evaluating
the perceived visual esthetics of websites in human-computer interac-
tion research (Lavie & Tractinsky, 2004), along with expanding un-
derstanding of the link between narrative structure and empathy pre-
viously observed in travel blogs (Hsiao et al., 2013). Finally, self-
reference also has significant weight in digital storytelling in visitor
11
Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
economy crowdfunding in the UTAUT framework, broadening past
research regarding the link between autobiographical memories and
consumer information processing (Baumgartner et al., 1992).
5.3. Practical implications
The empirical findings on digital storytelling and UTAUT concepts
have implications for visitor economy crowdfundraisers, platforms,
policy makers, and funders in leisure and tourism-related businesses.
The results suggest that crowdfunding entrepreneurs should focus on
increasing the quality of digital storytelling, including how well plat-
forms assist investors on the prospect of gaining returns on their in-
vestment in leisure and tourism-related projects. Appropriately tailored
digital storytelling content can stimulate the facilitating condition of
platforms and influence investor performance expectancy of crowd-
funding projects. Given the strong association between digital story-
telling and effort expectancy in leisure and tourism-related contexts,
this result suggests that visitor economy crowdfunding sites and crea-
tors should create digital storytelling content that emphasizes the ease
of investment in crowdfunding projects. Due to the positive effect of
digital storytelling on social influence, crowdfunding businesses should
ensure that digital storytelling highlights social relations and networks
via platform websites, social media, and mobile applications. In other
words, digital storytelling can help communicate that crowdfunders'
family, friends, relatives, and close people think that participation in
visitor economy crowdfunding is valuable.
The results from this study highlight that crowdfunding mangers
should emphasize facilitating conditions in order to attract investors,
followed by performance expectancy, social influence, and effort ex-
pectancy in descending order. For example, if crowdfundraisers want to
obtain funds from potential supporters, the most effective way is to
emphasize platforms' facilitating condition, by providing technical
help, payment systems, suitable investment knowledge and experi-
ences. When crowdfunding stakeholders wish to gain funds from po-
tential investors, they should increase consumers' perceived perfor-
mance expectation by offering better benefits and various advantages.
Overall, entrepreneurs should make the investment process as com-
fortable as possible for consumers, potentially including support for
funder social networks if they attract supporters to invest. In other
words, the impact of social influence on behavioral intention to
crowdfunding also suggests that crowdfunding managers could include
social media and networks services in their platform to better monitor
peer investor behavior.
The digital storytelling construct has the highest weight of per-
ceived esthetics from three sub-factors. This implies that visitor
economy crowdfunding stakeholders should concentrate on improving
the esthetics of their digital storytelling. This could be done, for ex-
ample, by applying tourism virtual reality technology (e.g., vivid video,
audio, 3D animation) (Kim & Hall, 2019a). Visitor economy crowd-
funding practitioners should focus on their digital storytelling in terms
of cause and effect as well as with respect to a well-structured frame-
work and specific events. Finally, the result of this research suggests
that the visitor economy crowdfunding industry could better build and
market their digital storytelling content to fit their audience in order to
stimulate investors' personal feelings because of the significant of self-
reference in the UTAUT model.
Interestingly, from four items of performance expectancy in this
study, two items relevant finance are deleted after CFA so that the
construct is defined through a non-financial lens. This result is con-
sistent with the crowdfunders' characteristics in Korea that crowdfun-
ders' primary purpose is to support new ideas, high technologies, ad-
venture spirits, and better values of fundraisers, followed by obtaining
rewards (services or experiences) and profits (Macromill Group
Company, 2019). Accordingly, entrepreneurs in leisure and tourism-
related industries should highlight the innovative nature of ideas or
values as well as the social dimensions of the crowdfunding experience
M.J. Kim and C.M. Hall
so as to attract potential investors for crowdfunding projects.
5.4. Limitations and future directions
Although this work offers theoretical and managerial insights to the
visitor economy crowdfunding field, there are several limitations that
suggest future study directions. The first restriction is generalizability of
our results. Since the research was performed in South Korea which has
the highest penetration rates for Internet usage (99.5%) and the fastest
speed of Internet (28.6 Mbps) in the world (Korea Internet & Security
Agency, 2019), the results may not apply to regions that have less de-
veloped ICT. Second, we have studied all types of crowdfunding from
visitor economy sectors. There is therefore a need to investigate dif-
ferences between sectors, as well as examine the potential contributions
of crowdfunding to support initiatives related to specific problems fa-
cing tourism and the visitor economy, such as sustainability, air pol-
lution, and climate change. Further, we included digital storytelling
constructs as a predictor based on the three key components as sub-
constructs in UTAUT concepts. Future research could recognize other
potentially relevant factors such as co-creation or herding behavior that
may affect the success of crowdfunding projects.
Different categories of fundraiser digital storytelling could also po-
tentially identify more diverse motivations in funder behavior.
Therefore, future research could examine the moderating role of digital
storytelling classifications in the UTAUT for tourism-related crowd-
funding projects. The UTAUT2 model produces a substantial improve-
ment in the variance explained for technology adoption (Venkatesh
et al., 2012) as well as specifically in relation to airlines (Escobar-
Rodríguez & Carvajal-Trujillo, 2014) and tourism mobile applications
(Tan et al., 2017). Studies have also improved prediction by including
significant variables, such as innovativeness (Crespo & del Bosque,
2008), trust (Kim, Chung, & Lee, 2011), information quality (Kuan,
Bock, & Vathanophas, 2008), and perceived security and privacy (Kim,
Ferrin, & Rao, 2008). Therefore, future studies in crowdfunding should
look to apply the UTAUT2 model, incorporating key variables to better
predict funder behavior. The use of frequency of visiting platforms (or,
more precisely, frequency of involvement in crowdfunding activities) is
potentially such a variable to better identify funders' investment be-
havior using the UTAUT2 model (Venkatesh et al., 2012; Wu & Wang,
2005) (see Table 1). Finally, this study has used a broad con-
ceptualization of tourism and visitor economy sectors based on Connell
et al. (2017) that incorporates cognate fields beyond the tourism and
hospitality sector (see participation in visitor economy-related projects
in Table 1). Therefore, the generalization of the study findings speci-
fically to tourism needs to be done with caution. Furthermore, it would
be valuable if future research would examine different tourism sub-
fields in order to gain improved insights into tourism crowdfunding
behavior.
6. Concluding remarks
Although storytelling in tourism-related e-commerce is significant
in persuading consumer involvement, research on digital storytelling in
tourism crowdfunding has been substantially overlooked. Hence, this
study built and verified a theoretically comprehensive research model
including digital storytelling with three sub-constructs (perceived es-
thetics, narrative structure, and self-reference) and the five key UTAUT
concepts (performance expectancy, social influence, effort expectancy,
facilitating condition, and behavioral intention). The findings of this
study suggest that entrepreneurs need to highlight crowdfunding plat-
forms' better facilitating conditions to better encourage support from
potential investors, followed by more benefits being relevant to per-
formance expectancy. Finally, crowdfunding stakeholders need to de-
velop their digital storytelling in terms of esthetics and attractiveness
and the broader social experience of crowdfunding in order to
strengthen their appeal to potential sponsors.
12
Tourism Management Perspectives 34 (2020) 100638
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the
Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea
(NRF-2018S1A5A8026985).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100638.
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Myung Ja Kim is an assistant professor in the College of
Hotel & Tourism Management at Kyung Hee University in
Seoul, Korea. Her research focuses on information and
communication technology (ICT), open innovation,
crowdfunding for the environment, eco-friendly eating out,
and K-pop culture fans' tourism behavior; peace and eco-
tourism development of the Korean DMZ; and mitigating
climate change and fine dust using artificial intelligence
and big data analytics. She has published over 40 articles in
SSCI indexed journals and has recently been awarded sev-
eral research grants regarding tourism-related ICTs.
C. Michael Hall is a Professor at University of Canterbury,
New Zealand; Visiting Professor, Linnaeus University,
Kalmar, Sweden; and Docent, University of Oulu, Finland.
His research interests include tourism, regional develop-
ment, global environmental change, food, sustainability
and World Heritage.