Understanding Members Active Participation in Online Question-and-Answer Communities: A Theory and Empirical Analysis

Author List: Khansa, Lara; Ma, Xiao; Liginlal, Divakaran; Kim, Sung S.;
Journal of Management Information Systems, 2015, Volume 32, Issue 2, Page 162-203.
Community-based question-and-answer (Q&A) websites have become increasingly popular in recent years as an alternative to general-purpose Web search engines for open-ended complex questions. Despite their unique contextual characteristics, only a handful of Q&A websites have been successful in sustaining members' active participation that, unlike lurking, consists of not only posting questions but also answering others' inquiries. Because the specific design of the information technology artifacts on Q&A websites can influence their level of success, studying leading Q&A communities such as Yahoo! Answers (YA) provides insights into more effective design mechanisms. We tested a goal-oriented action framework using data from 2,920 YA users, and found that active online participation is largely driven by artifacts (e.g., incentives), membership (e.g., levels of membership and tenure), and habit (e.g., past behavior). This study contributes to the information systems literature by showing that active participation can be understood as the setting, pursuit, and automatic activation of goals. > >
Keywords: active participation ;dynamic panel data analysis ;goal-oriented action; habit incentives; online community; online question-and-answer community; system-generated data
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#130 0.216 online users active paper using increasingly informational user data internet overall little various understanding empirical despite lead cascades help availability
#269 0.133 participation activities different roles projects examined outcomes level benefits conditions key importance isd suggest situations contextual furthermore benefit levels focus
#45 0.112 community communities online members participants wikipedia social member knowledge content discussion collaboration attachment communication law virtual membership structures forms activities
#276 0.098 satisfaction information systems study characteristics data results using user related field survey empirical quality hypotheses important success various indicate tested
#207 0.095 design artifacts alternative method artifact generation approaches alternatives tool science generate set promising requirements evaluation problem designed incentives components addressing
#116 0.077 research study influence effects literature theoretical use understanding theory using impact behavior insights examine influences mechanisms specifically context perspective findings
#194 0.061 use habit input automatic features modification different cognition rules account continuing underlying genre emotion way light triggers conscious triggered habitual