Why would online gamers share their innovation-conducive knowledge in the online game user community? Integrating individual motivations and social capital perspectives

The user community has been an important external source of a firm’s product or service innovation. Users’ innovation-conducive knowledge sharing enables the community to work as a vital source of innovation. But, traditional economic theories of innovation seem to provide few explanations about why such knowledge sharing takes place for free in the user community. Therefore, this study investigates what drives community users to freely share their innovation-conducive knowledge, using the theory of planned behavior. Based on an empirical analysis of the data from 1244 members of a South Korean online game user community, it reveals that intrinsic motivation, shared goals, and social trust are salient factors in promoting users’ innovation-conducive knowledge sharing. Extrinsic motivation and social tie, however, were found to affect such sharing adversely, contingent upon whether a user is an innovator or a non-innovator. The study illustrates how social capital, in addition to individual motivations, forms and influences users’ innovation-conducive knowledge sharing in the online gaming context.     

A study of Facebook Groups members’ knowledge sharing

There have been many studies focusing on individuals’ knowledge sharing behavior in the organizational setting. With the rapid prevalence of social networking sites, many people began to express their thoughts or share their knowledge via Facebook website. Facebook is an open environment which does not provide any immediate monetary benefits to its users. Its Groups members’ knowledge sharing behavior could be different from the ones in organizations. We proposed a research model to examine factors which promote the Facebook Groups users’ willingness to share knowledge. The factors in the study include extrinsic motivation, social and psychological forces, and social networking sharing culture. We used PLS to test our proposed hypotheses based on 271 responses collected through an online survey. Our results indicated that reputation would affect knowledge sharing attitude of Groups members and sense of self-worth would directly and indirectly (through subjective norm) affect the attitude. In addition, social networking sharing culture (fairness, identification, and openness) is the most significant factor, not only directly affecting knowledge sharing intention, but also indirectly influencing the sharing intention through subjective norm and knowledge sharing attitude.     

The influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on individuals' knowledge sharing behavior

A major challenge in knowledge management involves motivating people to share knowledge with others. The objective of this study is to deepen our understanding of how to influence an individual's tendency to engage in knowledge sharing behavior in a team setting. Specifically, we investigate the effects of intrinsic motivation (altruism) and extrinsic motivation (economic reward, reputation feedback and reciprocity) on knowledge sharing (number of ideas generated, idea usefulness, idea creativity and meeting satisfaction) in a group meeting. Results of our experiment show that a knowledge management system with built-in reputation feedback is crucial to support successful knowledge sharing.     

Individual characteristics influencing the sharing of knowledge on social networking services: online identity,self-efficacy,and knowledge sharing intentions

ABSTRACT

Social media have become an important place for individuals with similar interests to exchange opinions and share resources. Ubiquitous collaborative learning environments in SNS have great educational and organisational potential and offer a platform for sharing knowledge. Rising interest in personal factors in knowledge management research calls for a better understanding of how knowledge is shared in SNS-based collaborative learning. Grounded on the theories of planned behaviour and social identity, this study investigates individual characteristics that affect the sharing of knowledge in SNS learning communities. The study also examines whether intent to share knowledge mediates those personal characteristics and sharing of knowledge. Eighty individuals from five active Facebook groups participated in this study. The findings indicate that individual characteristics, such as online personal identity, web-specific self-efficacy, and knowledge-creation self-efficacy significantly predict sharing of knowledge. In addition, intent to share knowledge mediates between the sharing of knowledge and online identity, web-specific self-efficacy, or knowledge-creation self-efficacy. The results reveal a need for customised support and environmental design focusing on online personal identity, web-specific self-efficacy, knowledge-creation self-efficacy, and intent to share knowledge in a knowledge-sharing community on SNS. Implications for the SNS communities and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Understanding online knowledge sharing: An interpersonal relationship perspective

The unique features and capabilities of online learning are built on the ability to connect to a wider range of learning resources and peer learners that benefit individual learners, such as through discussion forums, collaborative learning, and community building. The success of online learning thus depends on the participation, engagement, and social interaction of peer learners, which leads to knowledge sharing. Thus, without frequent and persistent interaction, it is doubtful whether knowledge sharing can take place in online learning. This study argues that theories about the development and maintenance of social relationships provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the motivation to engage in online knowledge sharing behavior. An Online Knowledge Sharing Model (OKSM) is proposed and empirically tested among undergraduate students using an online learning environment. The model introduces two new constructs – Perceived Online Attachment Motivation (POAM) and Perceived Online Relationship Commitment (PORC), which together explained 71 percent of the variance observed in self-reported online knowledge sharing behavior. The findings provide some explanations for the motivation to share knowledge, and have several implications for the design of the features and capabilities of online learning environments.     

Investigating the role of identity and gender in technology mediated learning

Instructors and trainers are increasingly using online education and technology-mediated learning (TML) to supplement or replace traditional approaches to classroom teaching. Because mandatory involvement requirements may not intrinsically motivate learners to achieve high quality learning, social factors with commitment, such as identification among group members, are especially important determinants of TML success. This article investigates an individual's social and self identities as important determinants in developing affective commitment (identification) and intrinsic motivation (perceived enjoyment) to share knowledge by email in the TML environment. Furthermore, given the recent emphasis on gender in system adoption and socio-linguistic literature, this study investigates gender as a moderating variable in the proposed model. An empirical test of the proposed model was conducted in the pilot test (n = 155) as well as the main test (n = 411). Social and self identities influence identification (R ² = 0.42) and perceived enjoyment (R ² = 0.52) of sharing knowledge by email. As expected, there are significant moderating effects of gender in these relationships in that male shows stronger effects of self identity while female shows stronger effects of social identity. The results of this study will help us understand the antecedents of effective knowledge sharing intervention in the TML environment, based on the integrated model of social identity theory, social influence theory, self determination theory and socio-linguistic literature.     

Exploring factors that influence knowledge sharing behavior via weblogs

Knowledge sharing is seen as one of the essential processes for knowledge management. A growing number of professionals have started weblogging, and use this tool to share their ideas. It is important to explore ways to encourage individuals to contribute personal knowledge and to assist community members to share their expertise. Through the lens of sharing culture, we explore the factors that facilitate voluntary knowledge sharing in a virtual community. Specifically, the use of three categories associated with a sharing culture – fairness, identification and openness – is considered as a linear combination, which means that enjoying helping and usefulness/relevancy thereafter promote knowledge sharing behavior. To test the theoretical model, we survey 442 members of three online communities. In addition to the positive effects of fairness and openness on community sharing culture, we also find that enjoying helping, sharing culture and usefulness/relevancy are strongly linked to member knowledge sharing behavior. This paper offers a new perspective on the mechanisms related to the sharing culture construct, which in turn facilitates weblog knowledge sharing behaviors and yields important implications for understanding knowledge sharing behavior in online communities.     

What makes good games go viral? The role of technology use,efficacy, emotion and enjoyment in players’ decision to share a prosocial digital game

Serious digital games may be an effective tool for prosocial message dissemination because they offer technology and experiences that encourage players to share them with others, and spread virally. But little is known about the factors that predict players’ willingness to share games with others in their social network. This panel study explores how several factors, including sharing technology use, emotional responses, and game enjoyment, contribute to players’ decision to share the game Darfur is Dying, with others. College students played the game and completed questionnaires that assessed whether they had shared the games at two different time points: during game play and after game play. Positive emotions predicted sharing while students played the game, but negative emotions predicted whether the game was shared after initial game play. Game enjoyment predicted players’ intentions to share the game, but it did not predict actual sharing behavior. Neither players’ general use of sharing technologies nor their satisfaction related to sharing digital content predicted sharing intentions or behavior. These findings have implications for the study of viral social marketing campaigns, and serious game design and theory.     

Motivations of Wikipedia content contributors

Rapidly developing web technologies have increased the prevalence of user-generated Internet content. Of the many websites with user-generated content on the Internet, one of the most renowned is Wikipedia, which is the largest multilingual free-content encyclopedia written by users collaboratively. Nevertheless, although contributing to Wikipedia takes time and knowledge, contributors are rarely compensated. As a result, there is a need to understand why individuals share their knowledge in Wikipedia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of both conventional and self concept-based motivation on individual willingness to share knowledge in Wikipedia. After performing an online questionnaire survey, SEM was applied to assess the proposed model and hypotheses. The analytical results showed that internal self-concept motivation is the key motivation for knowledge sharing on Wikipedia.     

Knowledge sharing in online health communities: A social exchange theory perspective

Online health communities (OHC) are becoming valuable platforms for patients to communicate and find support. These communities are different from general online communities. The knowledge shared in an OHC can be categorized as either general (public) or specific (private), and each category is shared in vastly different ways. Using the social exchange theory, we propose a benefit vs. cost knowledge sharing model for OHCs. The benefits are mainly based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and the cost includes cognitive and executional costs. We use this benefit vs. cost model to examine how OHC members share general and specific knowledge. Data were collected from 323 users of two well-known OHCs in China and were analyzed using the structural equation model. The results demonstrate that three factors positively impact the sharing of both general and specific knowledge: a sense of self-worth, members’ perceived social support, and reputation enhancement. Another factor, face concern, has a negative influence on specific knowledge sharing and a positive influence on general knowledge sharing. Executional cost only negatively impacts general knowledge sharing, and cognitive cost only negatively impacts specific knowledge sharing. This study of OHCs reveals that personal benefits promote knowledge sharing and costs prohibit it. These impacts vary between general knowledge and specific knowledge sharing.     

Fostering the determinants of knowledge sharing in professional virtual communities

Professional virtual communities (PVCs), which are formed on the Internet, are expected to serve the needs of members for communication, information, and knowledge sharing. The executives of organizations should consider PVCs as a new innovation or knowledge pool since members share knowledge. However, many PVCs have failed due to members’ low willingness to share knowledge with other members. Thus, there is a need to understand and foster the determinants of members’ knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs. This study develops an integrated model designed to investigate and explain the relationships between contextual factors, personal perceptions of knowledge sharing, knowledge sharing behavior, and community loyalty. Empirical data was collected from three PVCs and tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the fit of the hypothetical model. The results show that trust significantly influences knowledge sharing self-efficacy, perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility, which in turn positively affect knowledge sharing behavior. Furthermore, the study finds that the norm of reciprocity does not significantly affect knowledge sharing behavior. The results of the study can be used to identify the motivation underlying individuals’ knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs. By investigating the impacts of contextual factors and personal perceptions on knowledge sharing behavior, the integrated model better explains behavior than other proposed models. This study might help executives of virtual communities and organizations to manage and promote these determinants of knowledge sharing to stimulate members’ willingness to share knowledge and enhance their virtual community loyalty. As only little empirical research has been conducted on the impact of knowledge sharing self-efficacy, perceived relative advantage, and perceived compatibility on the individual’s knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs, the empirical evidence reported here makes a valuable contribution in this highly important area.     

The roles of psychological climate,information management capabilities,and IT support on knowledge-sharing: an MOA perspective

Leveraging the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) theoretical framework and past research on psychological climate, this study analyzes three antecedent factors driving an individual’s knowledge-sharing (KS) within organizations: knowledge-sharing psychological climate as motivation, information management capability as ability, and organizational information technology support as opportunity. An empirical examination reveals that a motivating psychological climate has a primary impact on KS behavior, and the impact of perceived information management capability on sharing is mediated by the psychological climate. Perceived organizational use of information technology to support knowledge work bears strong influence on information management capabilities but not on sharing, suggesting that investment in IT does have indirect payoffs. The study is the first to position the opportunity→ability→motivation causal network in an individual’s KS behavior. The findings suggest that managers need to consider the pre-requisite roles of IT-enabled opportunities and workers’ information management abilities when building an all-important motivating climate to share.     

Knowledge sharing and social media: Altruism,perceived online attachment motivation,and perceived online relationship commitment

Social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, have become extremely popular. Facebook, for example, has more than a billion registered users and thousands of millions of units of information are shared every day, including short phrases, articles, photos, and audio and video clips. However, only a tiny proportion of these sharing units trigger any type of knowledge exchange that is ultimately beneficial to the users. This study draws on the theory of belonging and the intrinsic motivation of altruism to explore the factors contributing to knowledge sharing behavior. Using a survey of 299 high school students applying for university after the release of the public examination results, we find that perceived online attachment motivation (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) and perceived online relationship commitment (β = 0.49, p < 0.001) have positive, direct, and significant effects on online knowledge sharing (R² 0.568). Moreover, when introduced into the model, altruism has a direct and significant effect on online knowledge sharing (β = 0.46, p < 0.001) and the total variance explained by the extended model increases to 64.9%. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

News sharing in social media: The effect of gratifications and prior experience

Recent events indicate that sharing news in social media has become a phenomenon of increasing social, economic and political importance because individuals can now participate in news production and diffusion in large global virtual communities. Yet, knowledge about factors influencing news sharing in social media remains limited. Drawing from the uses and gratifications (U&G) and social cognitive theories (SCT), this study explored the influences of information seeking, socializing, entertainment, status seeking and prior social media sharing experience on news sharing intention. A survey was designed and administered to 203 students in a large local university. Results from structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that respondents who were driven by gratifications of information seeking, socializing, and status seeking were more likely to share news in social media platforms. Prior experience with social media was also a significant determinant of news sharing intention. Implications and directions for future work are discussed.     

Dimensionality of Social Capital and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Information Systems Project Teams

Knowledge sharing and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among project team members are crucial for project success due to the particularities of information systems (IS) projects. Bonding social capital is known to increase knowledge sharing and collaboration. However, the influence of bridging social capital on knowledge sharing is unclear. The interplay between bridging and bonding social capital is especially interesting in a collectivistic society such as South Korea where in-group ties are particularly strong. In this study, we examine the effect of the sub-dimensions of the above constructs (i.e., bonding, bridging, OCB) on knowledge sharing. The results suggest that bonding and citizenry behavior improves knowledge sharing. Bridging improves knowledge sharing by increasing organizational citizenry behavior. Unexpectedly, the effect of citizenship behavior on knowledge sharing differs from the effect of its sub-dimensions. Only helping others is positively related to knowledge sharing. Similarly, the sub-dimensions of bridging and bonding influence knowledge sharing and citizenship behavior differently than the first-order constructs. For example, shared team mental model positively affects OCB, but has no direct influence on knowledge sharing. Conversely, shared vision is the only sub-dimension of bridging that positively affects OCB. Thus, the results suggest that project managers should facilitate shared project vision and team mental model to encourage team members’ citizenship behavior and control the potential adverse influence of bridging social capital.     

Visualization analysis of the development trajectory of knowledge sharing in virtual communities based on CiteSpace

Studies on knowledge sharing (KS) in virtual communities (VCs) have indicated several limitations, such as chaotic literature information, interdisciplinarity complexity, and evolution vagueness. In this study, literature on KS in VCs is obtained from the database of Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection during 2002 to 2017. CiteSpace technology based on Java platform is applied to develop the visualization analysis of the development trajectory, and summarize the research distribution, intellectual base and evolution path of how KS in VCs has been studied. Results show that the quantitative development of literature on KS in VCs has undergone three stages, and China, USA, South Korea have led the research of this area. Moreover, the intellectual base is social capital, social cognitive theory, and behavior, motivation, quantity and quality of KS. In addition, the evolution path has gone through two stages: Firstly, the trajectory of development during 2002 to 2014 is concept definition, VCs platform, and factors influencing KS. Secondly, from the perspective of individuals, teams and organizations, the factors including social capital, trust, and self-efficiency have been stressed during 2015 to 2017. It provides the research trajectories and future research directions for authors.

     

Social network,social trust and shared goals in organizational knowledge sharing

The aim of our study was to further develop an understanding of social capital in organizational-knowledge-sharing. We first developed a measurement tool and then a theoretical framework in which three social capital factors (social network, social trust, and shared goals) were combined with the theory of reasoned action; their relationships were then examined using confirmatory factoring analysis. We then surveyed of 190 managers from Hong Kong firms, we confirm that a social network and shared goals significantly contributed to a person's volition to share knowledge, and directly contributed to the perceived social pressure of the organization. The social trust has however showed no direct effect on the attitude and subjective norm of sharing knowledge.     

Understanding the effects of trust and risk on individual behavior toward social media platforms: A meta-analysis of the empirical evidence

Trust and risk have been theorized and empirically approved as the most influential factors affecting individual behavior toward social media platforms (SMPs). However, the evidence is scattered and the understanding of the effects is ambiguous. To address this problem, a rigorous and quantitative meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the empirical evidence of 43 studies in information systems research between 2006 and 2014. The findings suggested that trust and risk both had significant effects on individual behavior toward SMPs but that trust had a stronger effect. Moderating effects of trust objects (community members vs. platforms) and platform types (virtual communities vs. social networking sites) were found. Surprisingly, culture was found to exert no moderating effect. This paper contributes more generalized knowledge to social media research literature to the theory with regard to the influence of trust and risk on individual behavior toward SMPs. The knowledge serves as the foundation for future research efforts in social media. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Research on the mechanism of knowledge and intelligence sharing in enterprises under big data: From the perspective of status‐striving motivation and opinion dynamics

Knowledge sharing is the process of individual knowledge interaction in the team. To understand the social psychological mechanism in the process of knowledge sharing, this article combines status‐striving motivation with opinion dynamics to study the decision mechanism and evolution law of employee knowledge sharing behaviour. A multiagent simulation method is used to design the decision‐making model of employee knowledge sharing behaviour. The influence of the network structure, number of people, and the proportion of employees with different statuses on knowledge sharing performance is considered. The simulation software is used to convert the theoretical model into a parametric experiment, and the sensitivity analysis is also employed. The results show that the knowledge of individuals with high status will increase initially, but the upward trend will eventually slow until reaching a steady state. The steady‐state status of employees is positively correlated with their initial knowledge volume.     

The role of knowledge sharing self-efficacy in sharing Open Educational Resources

In the current paper we report on a study regarding teachers’ sharing behavior regarding their Open Educational Resources (OER) in the Netherlands. Little is known about how many teachers actually share their learning materials and, therefore, an attempt was made to estimate the number of Dutch teachers and the types of OER they share. Second, we tried to find out whether knowledge sharing self-efficacy facilitated, and evaluation apprehension and trust inhibited teachers to share OER in two different contexts of sharing behavior; sharing with colleagues at their school (interpersonal sharing) and sharing with the public through Internet (Internet sharing). A survey among 1568 teachers from primary to higher education was undertaken to test the relative importance of knowledge sharing self-efficacy, evaluation apprehension and trust in determining Dutch teachers’ intention to share. The results showed that a large proportion of the Dutch teachers shared their OER, but that this sharing was limited to learning materials with low complexity (e.g., texts or images). Moreover, sharing occurred twice as much interpersonally than via websites. Our hypothesis that evaluation apprehension is significantly related to sharing behavior as well as the intention to share was not confirmed. Self-efficacy to share knowledge did, however, explain some of the differences in sharing behavior and in the intention to share of Dutch teachers, although the variables under study accounted only for a small amount of variance. Our findings should thus be replicated in further studies and other variables should be considered that could effectively predict OER sharing behavior of teachers.