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Continuous knowledge contribution in social Q&A communities: the moderation effects of self-presentation and motivational affordances

Lijuan Luo (Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior (Ministry of Education and Shanghai), School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China)
Yuwei Wang (School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China)
Siqi Duan (School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China)
Shanshan Shang (Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior (Ministry of Education and Shanghai), School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China)
Baojun Ma (Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior (Ministry of Education and Shanghai), School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China)
Xiaoli Zhou (School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China)

Information Technology & People

ISSN: 0959-3845

Article publication date: 4 July 2023

Issue publication date: 5 July 2024

541

Abstract

Purpose

Based on the perspectives of social capital, image motivation and motivation affordances, this paper explores the direct and moderation effects of different kinds of motivations (i.e. relationship-based motivation, community-based motivation and individual-based motivation) on users' continuous knowledge contributions in social question and answer (Q&A) communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collect the panel data of 10,193 users from a popular social Q&A community in China. Then, a negative binomial regression model is adopted to analyze the collected data.

Findings

The paper demonstrates that social learning, peer recognition and knowledge seeking positively affect users' continuous contribution behaviors. However, the results also show that social exposure has the opposite effect. In addition, self-presentation is found to moderate the influence of social factors on users' continuous use behaviors, while the moderation effect of motivation affordances has no significance.

Originality/value

First, this study develops a comprehensive motivation framework that helps gain deeper insights into the underlying mechanism of knowledge contribution in social Q&A communities. Second, this study conducts panel data analysis to capture the impacts of motivations over time, rather than intentions at a fixed time point. Third, the findings can help operators of social Q&A communities to optimize community norms and incentive mechanisms.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the editors and reviewers for their valuable suggestions and constructive feedback.

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72101157, 71942003, 72172092, 71772017), the Shanghai Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science (2019EGL018), the Innovative Research Team of Shanghai International Studies University (2020114044) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2019114032).

Citation

Luo, L., Wang, Y., Duan, S., Shang, S., Ma, B. and Zhou, X. (2024), "Continuous knowledge contribution in social Q&A communities: the moderation effects of self-presentation and motivational affordances", Information Technology & People, Vol. 37 No. 5, pp. 1950-1982. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-02-2022-0128

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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