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8.7 Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding 247

one aspect of gamification, which refers to the introduction More than just brainstorming or ideation, crowdsourcing
of gaming into social networking. Gamification can also be uses proven techniques to focus on the crowd’s innovation,
viewed as the introduction of social networking activities creativity, and problem-solving capacity on topics of vital
into online games. Our interest is in those applications that interest to the host organization. An overview of crowdsourc-
are related to social commerce and e-commerce. For more ing is provided in Jeff Howe’s video titled “Crowdsourcing”
definitions and limitations, see the Gamification Wiki (gami- (3:20 min) at youtube.com/watch?v=F0- UtNg3ots, crowd-
fication.org), and Duggan and Shoup (2013). sourcing.org, and in Brabham (2013). Also watch Brabham’s
Social activities are not new to online gaming. For exam- video “Crowdsourcing As a Model for Problem Solving”
ple, players collectively agree to the rules of the games. Also, (6:1 min) at youtube.com/watch?v=hLGhKyiJ8Xo.
gamers need trust between the players. What is new here is the
integration of traditional multiplayer games and social net- Crowdsourcing Models
working. Given that so many people play online games, it is
not surprising that vendors are encouraging players (e.g., via Howe (2008) has classified applications of crowdsourcing
rewards) to engage in desired behavior (e.g., problem- solving into the following four categories:
or collaboration). Vendors also use games as advertising plat-
forms. For a gamification framework, see Chou (2012).
According to a Lithium white paper (2011) and Florentine 1. Collective intelligence (or wisdom). Here, people
(2014), companies can use gamification to create winning are solving problems and providing new insights
social customer experiences such as increasing loyalty, build- and ideas leading to product, process, or service
ing trust, accelerating innovation, providing brand engage- innovations.
ment, and increasing relevant knowledge. For how to use 2. Crowd creation. Here, people are creating various
gamification to engage employees, see Hein (2013). types of content and sharing it with others (paid or
For commercial possibilities and strategies of social games for free). The content may be used for problem-
and gamification, see Zichermann and Linder (2013). solving, advertising, or knowledge accumulation.
For additional information, you can download the e-book This can be done by splitting large tasks into small
titled “The Essential Social Playbook: 8 Steps to Turn Social segments (e.g., contributing content to create the
into Sales,” at powerreviews.com/assets/new/ebooks/pow- Wikipedia).
erreviews_essential_social_playbook.pdf. 3. Crowd voting. Here, people are giving their opin-
ions and ratings on ideas, products, or services, as
well as evaluating and filtering information pre-
SECTION 8.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS sented to them. An example would be voting on
American Idol.
1. Describe online games. 4. Crowd support and funding. Here, people are con-
2. Describe games in social networks. tributing and supporting endeavors for social causes,
3. Discuss the business aspects of social games. which might include volunteering their effort and
4. What is gamification? Relate it to social commerce. time, offering donations, and micro-financing.

8.7 CROWDSOURCING Chaordix Corp. (chaordix.com) classifies crowdsourcing
AND CROWDFUNDING into the following three models:

The essentials of crowdsourcing were described in Chapter 2. 1. Secretive. Individuals submit ideas, and the winner is
Listed there, as a major capability, was the facilitation of problem- selected by the company. Ideas are not visible to all
solving. participants.
2. Collaborative. Individuals submit ideas, the crowd eval-
uates the ideas, and the crowd picks the winners. Ideas are
Crowdsourcing as a Distributed Problem- visible to all participants.
Solving Enabler 3. Panel selects. Individuals submit ideas, the crowd
evolves ideas, a panel selects finalists, and the crowd
Crowdsourcing actually describes a set of tools, concepts, votes for the winner.
and methodologies that deal with the process of outsourcing
work, including problem-solving and idea generation to a A crowdsortium is a community of industry practitioners
community of potential solvers known as the “crowd.” whose mission is to advance the crowdsourcing industry