According to a recent study, 31.8% of respondents said they know what crowdfunding is. Another third (33.3%) have already heard of financing through the virtual crowd. Last year, these figures were 24.5% and 27.3%, respectively.
In total, almost two thirds of the respondents of the “Crowdfunding Barometer 2016" have at least heard of crowdfunding. This is 13.3 percentage points more than in 2015. One in eleven respondents has already invested financially in such a project. Participants most frequently invest in traditional "reward-based" crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding is most popular among men, younger people, highest earners and high school graduates
In a gender comparison, this relatively new form of financing is significantly more familiar among men: 75.1% of male respondents have at least heard of it. Among women, this figure is only 55.6%. The gender gap is even more marked when it comes to their own participation in crowdfunding projects: 12.1% of men and only 6.1% of female study participants have already invested money in this way.
Awareness decreases with the age of the respondents: 86.3% of those under 30 are familiar with the term crowdfunding, and 20.2% have already participated. Among those aged 50 to 59, these figures are only 60.5% and 3.2%, respectively.
However, with rising income and higher education, the affinity for crowdfunding increases: 76.1% of top earners with a monthly income of over €4,000 have already heard of it. Respondents with a high school diploma and no university degree are at 80.3%, while those with a university degree are at 77.9%. This could be related to age: Young respondents, who are more likely to be interested in crowdfunding, often have not yet finished their studies.
“Online representative” results
The market research institute Omniquest surveyed on behalf of the portal crowdfunding.de 1,000 people online. The institute calls the study "online representative" for Germany. This means that the actual values are likely lower than the study results. People who are not or only slightly active online are likely to be less familiar with crowdfunding.
