Why users contribute knowledge to online communities: An empirical study of an online social Q&amp;A community

Jin, Jiahua; Li, Yijun; Zhong, Xiaojia; Zhai, Li

doi:10.1016/j.im.2015.07.005

Cited by 210 publications

(197 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

193

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…User participation is a major challenge because only a small number of members actively participate in online communities (Preece & Maloney-Krichmar, 2003;Preece, Nonnecke, & Andrews, 2004). Several studies have attempted to understand and explain member participation in online communities (Faraj, Jarvenpaa, & Majchrzak, 2011;Frost, Vermeulen, & Beekers, 2014;Gharib, Philpott, & Duan, 2017;Jin, Li, Zhong, & Zhai, 2015). These studies have adopted several perspectives to advance alternative explanations for user motivation in online communities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge sharing behavior in online discussion communities: Examining behavior motivation from social and individual perspectives

Kumi

Sabherwal

2018

Knowl Process Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Prior research has advanced several reasons, using various perspectives, to explain user participation in online discussion communities. Nonetheless, relatively few studies have explored personal and social factors together in the same study to explain knowledge seeking and sharing behaviors in online discussion communities; additionally, relatively few studies have examined the outcomes of these behaviors. Research question Using social identity and personal motivation theories, this study examines the following research questions. First, how do social identity and extrinsic and intrinsic motivations influence knowledge seeking and sharing behaviors in online discussion communities? Second, how do knowledge seeking and sharing behaviors affect satisfaction with a community? Methodology To address these two research questions, we collected data from 144 users from two online communities and analyze the data using seemingly unrelated regression. Results The results indicate that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have different impacts on knowledge seeking and sharing behaviors. Only one of the dimensions of social identity, affective social identity, has a significant impact on knowledge seeking and sharing behaviors. Conclusions Knowledge sharing and seeking behaviors are not driven by the same personal motivations. We discuss practical implications on online discussion communities, including insights into motivations, behaviors, and outcomes.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge sharing behavior in online discussion communities: Examining behavior motivation from social and individual perspectives

Kumi

Sabherwal

2018

Knowl Process Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The prior literature has long predicted that users' perceived value of using online communities and usage intention are driven by various subjective perceived benefits and costs (Jin, Li, Zhong, & Zhai, 2015;Kankanhalli et al, 2005). On the trilateral Q&A platform, askers need to break the inertia that asking for knowledge online is free.…”

Section: Theoretical Background and Research Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors that affect asker's pay intention in trilateral payment‐based social Q&A platforms: From a benefit and cost perspective

Zhao

Peng

Liu

et al. 2019

Asso for Info Science & Tech

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

More and more social Q&A platforms are launching a new business model to monetize online knowledge. This monetizing process introduces a more complicated cost and benefit tradeoff to users, especially for askers' concerns. Much of the previous research was conducted in the context of free‐based Q&A platform, which hardly explains the triggers that motivate askers' pay intention. Based on the theories of social exchange and social capital, this study aims to identify and examine the antecedents of askers' pay intention from the perspective of benefit and cost. We empirically test our predictions based on survey data collected from 322 actual askers in a well‐known trilateral payment‐based social Q&A platform in China. The results by partial least squares (PLS) analysis indicate that besides noneconomic benefits including self‐enhancement, social support, and entertainment, financial factors such as cost and benefit have significant influences on the perceived value of using trilateral payment‐based Q&A platforms. More important, we further identify that the effect of financial benefit is moderated by perceived reciprocity belief, and the effect of perceived value is moderated by perceived trust in answerers. Our findings contribute to the previous literature by proposing a theoretical model that explains askers' behavioral intention, and the practical implications for payment‐based Q&A service providers and participants.

show abstract

“…High-quality relationships emerge through a series of such interactions [19] and have been found to positively affect team member's creativity [14], facilitate empowerment [20] or learning [21]. Outcomes of social exchange are a combined result of transactions between two or more interdependent people [8] and comprise, for example, organizational citizenship behavior, commitment, and job satisfaction [22].…”

Section: Social Exchange Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Convergence on Self-Generated vs. Crowdsourced Ideas in Crisis Response: Comparing Social Exchange Processes and Satisfaction with Process

Seeber

Merz

Vreede

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2017)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Why users contribute knowledge to online communities: An empirical study of an online social Q&A community

Cited by 210 publications

References 63 publications

Knowledge sharing behavior in online discussion communities: Examining behavior motivation from social and individual perspectives

Knowledge sharing behavior in online discussion communities: Examining behavior motivation from social and individual perspectives

Factors that affect asker's pay intention in trilateral payment‐based social Q&A platforms: From a benefit and cost perspective

Convergence on Self-Generated vs. Crowdsourced Ideas in Crisis Response: Comparing Social Exchange Processes and Satisfaction with Process

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About