The influence mechanism of rewards on knowledge sharing behaviors in virtual communities

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of organizational rewards on two forms of knowledge sharing – explicit knowledge sharing and tacit knowledge sharing in virtual communities, and further to explore the mediating effect of intrinsic motivation on the effect of virtual community rewards on implicit knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach Based on relevant knowledge sharing theories, this study develops an integrated framework to explore virtual community rewards and tacit and explicit knowledge sharing in a virtual context. This study then collected data from 429 virtual community users in four virtual communities via an online survey. Hierarchical regression analyzes were used to test the proposed research model. Findings The results of this study show that virtual rewards have a significantly positive linear relationship with explicit knowledge sharing but have an inverse U-shape relationship with tacit knowledge sharing in virtual communities. In addition, intrinsic motivations including enjoyment and self-efficacy mediate the relationship between rewards and tacit knowledge sharing. Practical implications This study suggests more virtual community rewards may not always lead to more tacit knowledge sharing. Instead, too many rewards may weaken the motivation for tacit knowledge sharing. Knowledge management practitioners should make full use of the positive impact of self-efficacy and enjoyment to set up appropriate reward incentives to encourage knowledge-sharing, in particular, tacit knowledge sharing and to better manage virtual communities. Originality/value This study explores knowledge-sharing behavior in virtual communities, an important step toward more integrated knowledge-sharing theories. While online communities have become increasingly important for today’s knowledge economy, few studies have explored knowledge and knowledge sharing in a virtual context and this study helps to bridge the gap. In addition, this study develops an integrated framework to explore the mechanism through which virtual community rewards affect knowledge sharing with intrinsic motivation mediating this relationship in online communities, which further enriches the understanding on how to use virtual rewards to motivate knowledge sharing behaviors in the virtual context.

Consumer Online Knowledge-Sharing: Motivations and Outcome

“…For instance, Zhao et al (2016) found virtual rewards can incentive inactive users to share knowledge in social Q&A sites. Wang et al (2022) further indicate virtual rewards have strong positive influence on explicit knowledge sharing. In terms of Q&A reviews, people can get points through answering questions.…”

“…Similar results are also provided by research on social Q&A and knowledge sharing. For example, both Zhao and Detlor (2021) and Wang et al (2022) found users were intrinsically motivated by hedonism to share knowledge in online communities. In social Q&A, Zhao et al (2016) also conducted a study to prove that the enjoyment in helping others is the main reason for users to share their knowledge.…”

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“… Straub (1989) proposes that 0.5 is the cutoff level of the factor loadings of selected measures. Typically, loadings of 0.5 or greater are considered significant ( Terziovski, 2010 ; Gunawan and Huarng, 2015 ; Lioukas and Reuer, 2015 ; Peña Häufler et al, 2021 ; Song et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021b ). The loadings of all items are basically greater than 0.7 and exceed 0.5, which shows adequate convergent validity.…”

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“…Ce pan de recherche permet d'apporter un nouvel éclairage sur la compréhension des comportements de partage des connaissances dans un environnement virtuel. Par exemple, les récompenses offertes par communauté virtuelle (rétributions sous forme de connaissances) et la motivation intrinsèque seraient impliquées dans l'explication des comportements de partage des connaissances de ces utilisateurs (Wang, Yin, Ma et Liao, 2021).…”