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Self-evaluation of knowledge sharing through the lens of social comparison theory

Self-evaluation of knowledge sharing through the lens of social comparison theory The purpose of this study is to investigate how different types of contribution awareness information influence knowledge sharing motivation and contribution persistence.Design/methodology/approachThe independent variable of this experimental study was contribution awareness information with four levels: self-contribution, absolute social-comparison, relative social-comparison and control. The dependent variables were self-rated knowledge sharing motivation measured on a six-point Likert scale and contribution persistence measured by number of contributions. A total of 182 knowledge workers voluntarily completed online participation. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the four intervention groups.FindingsThe study found that the self-contribution group outperformed the other groups in both knowledge sharing motivation and contribution persistence; this observation was significant compared with the absolute social-comparison and control groups. The impact of self-contribution frequency information was stronger for contribution persistence than for self-evaluated knowledge sharing motivation, highlighting the gap between perception and behavior. It is also noteworthy that comparative information negatively influenced knowledge sharing motivation and contribution persistence, implying that social comparison played a role in priming individuals to focus on dissimilarities between the comparison target and themselves.Originality/valueThis study provides behavior-based evidence supporting social comparison theory and the selective accessibility model in the field of knowledge sharing outside of an organizational context. This study also offers the practical advice that participants’ knowledge sharing motivation and contribution persistence, especially newly joining members, can be increased by the inclusion of self-contribution information and conversely decreased by comparative information. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems Emerald Publishing

Self-evaluation of knowledge sharing through the lens of social comparison theory

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2059-5891
DOI
10.1108/vjikms-04-2019-0056
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate how different types of contribution awareness information influence knowledge sharing motivation and contribution persistence.Design/methodology/approachThe independent variable of this experimental study was contribution awareness information with four levels: self-contribution, absolute social-comparison, relative social-comparison and control. The dependent variables were self-rated knowledge sharing motivation measured on a six-point Likert scale and contribution persistence measured by number of contributions. A total of 182 knowledge workers voluntarily completed online participation. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the four intervention groups.FindingsThe study found that the self-contribution group outperformed the other groups in both knowledge sharing motivation and contribution persistence; this observation was significant compared with the absolute social-comparison and control groups. The impact of self-contribution frequency information was stronger for contribution persistence than for self-evaluated knowledge sharing motivation, highlighting the gap between perception and behavior. It is also noteworthy that comparative information negatively influenced knowledge sharing motivation and contribution persistence, implying that social comparison played a role in priming individuals to focus on dissimilarities between the comparison target and themselves.Originality/valueThis study provides behavior-based evidence supporting social comparison theory and the selective accessibility model in the field of knowledge sharing outside of an organizational context. This study also offers the practical advice that participants’ knowledge sharing motivation and contribution persistence, especially newly joining members, can be increased by the inclusion of self-contribution information and conversely decreased by comparative information.

Journal

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems – Emerald Publishing

Published: Apr 7, 2020

Keywords: Knowledge sharing; Motivation; Persistence; Social comparison; Awareness

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