Join us for Marketing Analytics Hackathon 2026
Winning hearts faster: what drives lender decisions in prosocial crowdfunding?
Marketing Analytics Hackathon Challenge 2026
Winning hearts faster: what drives lender decisions in prosocial crowdfunding?
This year’s challenge focuses on prosocial crowdfunding in subsistence marketplaces—economic environments characterized by resource constraints, limited buffers against shocks, and restricted access to formal financial systems.
In such contexts, access to small amounts of capital can meaningfully affect livelihoods, entrepreneurship, and household stability. When borrowers seek funding on digital platforms, success often depends on how effectively they communicate purpose, establish credibility, and convey value to potential lenders.
By examining what drives lender decisions and funding speed, this challenge aims to uncover how persuasive communication and loan characteristics shape lender responses in subsistence marketplaces.
Subsistence marketplaces encompass consumers and entrepreneurs in the broad range of low income from extreme poverty to the cusp of low and lower-middle income (www.subsistencemarketplaces.org). You may learn more about subsistence marketplaces through virtual immersion and curated readings here.
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- A global competition—collaborate and compete with talented participants from around the world.
- A fresh, real-world challenge — tackle an intriguing and meaningful problem using real data.
- Recognition and opportunities — top teams may receive prizes, School of Marketing tutor positions, or internship opportunities.*
* The outcome of job opportunities depends on a further selection among the applications from this group and is subjective to requirements such as visa conditions.
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• 1 Jul 2026: competition details announced; registration opens
• 17 Aug 2026: Proposal submission opens
• 24 Aug 2026 (5pm): Proposal submission deadline
• 27 Aug 2026 (9am): Finalist teams announced
• 4 Sep 2026: Final presentations and award ceremony
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• Register your interest via MA.Hackathon@unsw.edu.au
• We will send you an email when there is any news!
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To find out more about becoming a sponsor, please contact MA.Hackathon@unsw.edu.au
What is the annual Marketing Analytics Hackathon?
The Marketing Analytics Hackathon is an annual competition organized by the School of Marketing at UNSW. It attracts top-tier students with strong marketing and analytical skills to participate. Participants form teams to compete in solving real-world problems, using their marketing knowledge and analytical skills within a limited time period (e.g., one week).
Highlights of Marketing Analytics Hackathon 2025
• 38 team registrations from 20 universities across 8 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Korea, New Zealand, and Vietnam.
• 122 students from 35 different majors, ranging from Business, Computer Science, Engineering, Law, and Math to Design, Media, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Marketing Analytics.
Past events