Employee creativity formation: The roles of knowledge seeking, knowledge contributing and flow experience in Web 2.0 virtual communities

Yalan Yan; Robert M. Davison; Chunyan Mo

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.03.007

Author(s)

Yalan Yan
Robert M. Davison
Chunyan Mo

Related Research Unit(s)

Department of Information Systems

Detail(s)

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1923-1932
Journal / Publication	Computers in Human Behavior
Volume	29
Issue number	5
Online published	25 Apr 2013
Publication status	Published - Sept 2013

Link(s)

DOI	DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.03.007 Final Published version
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Attachment(s)	Documents 5794797.pdf Post-print, 364 KB, PDF Publisher's Copyright Statement COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: © 2013. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Link to Scopus	https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84876866192&origin=recordpage
Permanent Link	https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/publications/publication(b7329e03-e2d2-46bc-b3d1-d16a1e4f9f42).html

Abstract

Knowledge seeking and knowledge contributing are two distinct types of behaviors, both of which must occur for the presumed benefits of knowledge sharing to be realized. Self-perception theory posits that individuals come to 'know' their own internal beliefs by inferring them partially from observations of their own overt behavior. Building on self-perception theory and adhering to the principle that knowledge sharing facilitates knowledge creation, we develop a research model to explore the consequences of both knowledge seeking and knowledge contributing behavior given the consideration that flow plays a lubricating role in the formation of creativity. Data collected from 232 users of Web 2.0 virtual communities were used to test the model. We found that both knowledge seeking and knowledge contributing can lead to a state of flow and can further result in creativity at work. These findings and their implications for theory and practice are discussed. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.