Will extrinsic motivation motivate or demotivate knowledge contributors? A moderated mediation analysis

Abstract

Purpose

Prior studies fail to reach a consensus on the effects of extrinsic motivation (EM) on knowledge contribution in virtual communities. To fill this research gap, this research proposes two mechanisms of EM – direct effect versus indirect effect via intrinsic motivation (IM) – and introduces prosocial motivation (PSM) as the moderator to define the valence of these two mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopts structural equation modeling to validate hypotheses based on 448 responses from XiaoMi online community users.

Findings

The results of the moderated mediation analysis show that the direct effect, indirect effect via IM and total effect of EM on knowledge contribution are contingent on the level of PSM. Specifically, as the level of PSM increases, the direct, indirect and total effects of EM on knowledge contribution and the effects of EM on IM change from positive to insignificant and then to negative. Although IM constantly plays an important role across levels of PSM, its effect is stronger when the degree of PSM is high.

Originality/value

This paper advances knowledge of an integrated framework of EM by simultaneously describing its direct and indirect effects, describing its positive and negative effects and untangling the boundary conditions under which each effect of EM applies.

Citation

Sun, Y., Zhang, Y. and Shen, X.-L. (2022), "Will extrinsic motivation motivate or demotivate knowledge contributors? A moderated mediation analysis", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 26 No. 9, pp. 2255-2274. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-01-2021-0048