Showing the Brand Helps Aftermarket Products Win Crowdfunding Backers

Aftermarket products are the add-ons and accessories built to work with something a customer already owns. Think phone cases, camera lenses, car parts, or attachments for a game console. Many small firms in this space raise money on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter. A study by three McCoy College of Business faculty members looks at how visibly a campaign presents its brand. That visibility affects whether the campaign succeeds.

The authors are Fereshteh Zihagh, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Masoud Moradi, Associate Professor of Marketing, and Vishag A. Badrinarayanan, Professor of Marketing, all in the Department of Marketing at Texas State University. The paper appeared in the Journal of Product & Brand Management.

The study

The researchers take what they call a brand prominence perspective. Brand prominence is the degree to which a brand is visible and recognizable in a piece of communication. The study splits it into two forms. Textual brand prominence is how often and how clearly the brand appears in the campaign’s written pitch. Visual brand prominence is how clearly the brand shows up in the images and graphics.

To test the idea, the team built a Python-based web scraper and collected 620 Kickstarter campaigns for aftermarket offerings. They then ran the campaign text through a linguistic analysis tool, the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count application. This software counts words in categories such as emotion, certainty, and social references. That lets researchers measure the tone and style of a narrative. The hypotheses were tested with a fixed effects regression model. This statistical method controls for stable differences across groups of campaigns.

What the researchers found

Both forms of brand prominence were positively related to campaign success. Campaigns that named the brand clearly in the text did better. Campaigns that showed the brand clearly in the visuals also did better.

The second finding concerns interaction. Crowdfunding research already shows that a compelling narrative and strong graphic design help a campaign. This study finds that brand prominence strengthens those effects. When the brand is visible, a good story and good design go further than they otherwise would. The abstract notes some variation in this pattern across the specific elements tested.

What it means for aftermarket entrepreneurs

The practical message is direct. Aftermarket firms often lean on the host product’s brand, since their goods exist to complement it. This study suggests they should not let their own brand disappear in the process. Naming the brand in the pitch and showing it in campaign images is linked to more success.

The results also argue for treating the campaign page as a piece of brand communication. Founders tend to see crowdfunding as a way to raise capital and test demand. It is also the first place many customers meet the brand. A consistent brand presence on the page appears to lift the return on the narrative and design work already being done.

The authors add that the work extends the branding, crowdfunding, and aftermarket product literatures. They also point to several directions for future research.

This summary is based on the paper’s abstract. The full article reports the data, methods, and detailed results.

What it means for managers

• Put the brand front and center. Campaigns that name the brand in the text and show it in the visuals are more likely to succeed.
• Brand prominence amplifies the rest of the pitch. Strong narratives and good graphic design pay off more when the brand is visible.
• Treat the campaign page as brand communication, not only a funding request. For aftermarket firms, crowdfunding doubles as a branding channel.

Zihagh, F., Moradi, M., & Badrinarayanan, V. A. (2024). A brand prominence perspective on crowdfunding success for aftermarket offerings: The role of textual and visual brand elements. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 33(1), 91-107. 10.1108/JPBM-06-2023-4553