Understanding the sustainability of online question answering communities in China

: the case of "Yahoo! Answers China"

Abstract

The advent of web 2.0 provides new ways for question answering (Q&A) services. Web 2.0 enabled Q&A communities are online communities dedicated for users to exchange their knowledge in the form of asking and answering questions. They have become extremely popular recently since they are beneficial to both individual users and community practitioners. Previous research has widely claimed that the long-term sustainability of information systems and online social networks are determined by users’ continued participate rather than first-time usage. This indicates that motivating members to continue answering questions in online Q&A communities is essential to the long-term sustainability of these communities. Given the importance of users’ continuance in answering questions in online Q&A communities, it is surprising that so little work has been conducted in this area. Filling this research gap, this study develops a research model to investigate the antecedents of user intention to continue answering questions in online Q&A communities based on theories of social exchange, satisfaction, identity orientations and self-efficacy. In particular, this study examines (1) the relationship between behavioral Intention of continued knowledge contribution in online Q&A communities and users’ feelings of satisfaction and knowledge self-efficacy, (2) how the post-contribution feelings of knowledge self-efficacy and satisfaction are increased by the outcome performance of knowledge contribution, and (3) how users’ identity orientations moderate the relationships between different kinds of knowledge contribution performances (self-referent benefits and community-referent benefits) and user satisfaction. In order to test the proposed research model and hypotheses, a total of 241 returns collected from an online survey conducted among users of a famous online Q&A community in China, namely, ―Yahoo! Answers China‖ were analyzed using partial least squares. The results indicate that users’ intention to continue answering questions in ―Yahoo! Answers China‖ is primarily determined by satisfaction but also by knowledge self-efficacy. The results indicate that satisfaction is increased by reputation enhancement, advancement of the online community and knowledge self-efficacy. Knowledge self-efficacy is, on the other hand, affected by enjoyment in helping others and advancement of the online community. However, the direct influences of personal (extrinsic reward, reputation enhancement, reciprocity and enjoyment in helping others) or collective outcome performances (advancement of the online community) on continuance intention are insignificant. Further, the results show that users’ collective outcome performance (i.e., advancement of the online community) has a significant influence on satisfaction when users’ collective identity orientation is higher than their personal identity orientation. In contrast, the relationship between reciprocity (one type of personal outcome performance) and satisfaction is significant when users’ collective identity orientation is lower than their personal identity orientation. The findings of this study contribute to both theory building in the sustainability of online Q&A communities and practice in the management of online Q&A communities.

Date of Award	17 Feb 2010
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Kwok On Matthew LEE (Supervisor)