Corporate Vision October 2017

CORPORATE VISION / October 2017 7 NEWS , ALMOST HALF (48%) of Britons’ would pay a premium to be able to move in to a property imme- diately without having to do any renovation or replacement work, according to new research. A study of 2,000 UK adults by BetterBathrooms.com revealed that homebuyers are willing to increase their property buying budget by an extra 14% on aver- age for rooms and fitted furnish- ings they want to keep, rather than replace. Rooms with desirable fitted furni- ture and appliances were also the rooms taken into highest consid- eration when purchasing a prop- erty, with 43% admitting a kitchen in good condition is top of their property wish lists. A well-presented bathroom was also regarded as important by a third (33%), with tiles and plumbed-in appliances being too time consuming to fit and replace. 27% rated a large outdoor space or garden as high priority on prop- erty search checklists, providing extra living space when the Great British weather permits. One in six (16%) also listed a ga- rage as an important factor while one in ten (11%) said they would be looking for attic space, show- ing storage and spill-over space is a top priority when purchasing a new home. Lee Glenister, Head of Marketing for BetterBathrooms.com com- mented: “It is clear that house hunters in 2017 are even more time poor and are willing to ex- ceed their budget in order to speed up the process of moving to a new property, with homes that are ready to move into ex- changing hands for a higher pre- mium. “Rooms which are more expen- sive to fit out and decorate, such as kitchens and bathrooms hold the highest priority for those look- ing for a new home, with a high percentage opting to buy a home that doesn’t require any major building work.” Those aged 35-44 (56%) were most likely to break the bank when it comes to buying a ready to move in to home, stating a lack of time to renovate and organise building work (78%) as the main reason for doing so. Recent research by Halifax Insur- ance also discovered that plan- ning applications for basement conversion projects have soared by 183% over the past 5 years, while applications for conservato- ries have fallen 3% in the same time. New research on crowdfunding carried out by HEC Paris, the University of Technology Sydney, Singapore Management Univer- sity and INSEAD has revealed that funding efforts are weakened if ideas are deemed to be both novel and useful. The study is the first evidence of how the Kickstarter community – those backing crowdfunding pro- jects on the world’s largest online crowdfunding portal - values projects that pursue innovation. “We found that both novelty and usefulness increase project fund- ing separately, but when these two are together they cause a noticeable decrease”, says Cathy Yang, Assistant Professor at HEC Paris. “This is deeply disappointing as the premise of crowdfunding is to support creativity and innovation”, adds Anirban Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Singa- pore Management University. “When projects make both claims, backers either assume a product’s benefits are inflated, that it carries a high risk of failure or that it divides the crowd between believers and sceptics, making it hard for backers to pick a side”, says Amitava Chatto- padhyay, Professor of Marketing at Insead. “Entrepreneurs therefore might be advised to frame a project as only novel or only useful, rather than both”, underlines Dr Ping Xiao of the University of Technol- ogy Sydney (UTS). The researchers set out to address a research gap where relatively little is known about how individuals, as a large and anonymous community, respond to innovation. Ready Set Move Novel and useful crowdfunding ideas do not work together, new research has highlighted. By examining projects on Kick- starter to determine if projects that aspire to be innovative are successful, they sought to find out the effect of novelty and usefulness, its interaction on the amount pledged towards a pro- ject and to establish what most increases project funding. Data was gathered across 50,310 projects in nine product categories from the launch of Kickstarter in 2009 through to February this year. In order to understand the possible reasons for the research findings, Yang says: “First, a pro- ject may not successfully reach its funding goal. In this case, backers are refunded but do not receive the product. Second, it is plausible that users on Kickstart- er may question the credibility of the project creator to deliver the described product in the stated timeframe. For example, a recent study found that more than three-quarters of successfully funded projects (on Kickstarter) are either delayed or failed.” “Alternatively, projects on Kick- starter are proposed blueprints, rather than descriptions, of the fi- nal product. As a project evolves, the creator may make significant changes, without the assent of backers.” The research paper titled ‘Does the Crowd Support Innovation? Innovation Claims and Success on Kickstarter’ was co-authored by Anirban Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Sin- gapore Management University, Cathy Yang, Assistant Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris, Ping Xiao, Senior Lecturer at Univer- sity of Technology Sydney and Amitava Chattopadhyay, Profes- sor of Marketing at Insead. British homebuyers are willing to increase their budget by 14% for a ready-to-move-into home, as 48%prefer a home that doesn’t need repair work with kitchens, bathrooms, and a large lounge top homebuyers’ wish lists, according to new study.