Understanding Sustained Knowledge Contribution from a Motivation Crowding Perspective: A Case Study in a Chinese Q&A Community

Jiangjiang Guo, Ting Ji, Wenqian Zhang and Lingfeng Dong ()
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Jiangjiang Guo: Zhejiang Institute of Strategic Development, Zhejiang Institute of Administration, Hangzhou 311121, China
Ting Ji: School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Wenqian Zhang: College of Business, Jiangxi Environmental Engineering Vocational College, Ganzhou 341000, China
Lingfeng Dong: Alibaba Business College, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: A Q&A community typically employs various types of external incentives to motivate knowledge contribution from their community members. This study aims to examine the effects of different external incentives, which are conceptualized as different types of motivational factors, on community participants’ sustained knowledge contribution. Drawing on motivation crowding theory, the present study proposes that different motivators interact and jointly influence knowledge contribution behavior. The panel data were collected from a Chinese Q&A community by using the Python Scrapy crawler, and the Poisson regression model with fixed effects was used to validate the integrative model. The results revealed that generalized reciprocity and social learning undermined the effect of online attractiveness on sustained knowledge contribution, whereas peer feedback strengthens this effect. The findings contribute to the extant research on sustained contribution behavior and provide practical insights into sustaining virtual communities.

Keywords: sustained knowledge contribution; motivation crowding theory; Q&A virtual community; intrinsic motivation; extrinsic motivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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