Abstract

The maker movement is a cultural trend that focuses on an individual’s ability to be a creator of things using technology. This study provides an exploratory analysis of the motivations of making and community participation in the maker movement. This study conducted a field study based on motivation theory using a survey methodology that involved 93 individual makers from seven online maker communities. The analysis results show that different motives have a positive effect on makers in different ways: extrinsic, status opportunity motivation affects making itself while use-value motivation affects community participation. Intrinsic motivation does not have a significant relationship with either participation or making. Furthermore, community participation is an important factor in making as it influences both learning and performance, while making only influences performance. These results can help to enlarge the understanding of makers and contribute to the growth of the maker movement.