Reciprocal intention in knowledge seeking: Examining social exchange theory in an online professional community

Jacob Chia-An Tsai and Tsan-Ching Kang

International Journal of Information Management, 2019, vol. 48, issue C, 161-174

Abstract: The free-rider problem in an online professional community could, over time, undermine the wealth of the community and deplete the knowledge inventory to unacceptable levels. A knowledge seeker’s intention to reciprocate is motivated by perceived social benefits. An interpretation of intention to reciprocate cannot be fully addressed without investigating how knowledge seekers define the community support received in their knowledge-seeking process. This study suggests that perceived community support is the degree to which knowledge seekers perceive a supportive climate created by linking actors. An empirical study involving 471 knowledge seekers was conducted in an online professional community that seekers used to search for and acquire programming knowledge. The results indicated that knowledge seekers take perceived social benefits and perceived community support into account when forming an intention to reciprocate. In addition, perceived community support positively moderated the effect of knowledge-seeking effort on perceived social benefits. These findings contribute to the existing literature on knowledge-seeking by using social exchange theory to integrate perceived community support and better explain the intention of knowledge seekers to reciprocate in an online professional community. Theoretical and practical implications derived from the findings are further discussed.

Keywords: Social exchange theory; Knowledge seeking; Reciprocity; Perceived social benefits; Perceived community support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ininma:v:48:y:2019:i:c:p:161-174

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.02.008

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