Motivators of researchers' knowledge sharing and community promotion in online multi-background community

Abstract

As an essential group in knowledge innovation, researchers are encouraged to exchange ideas with each other for further brainstorm through advanced communication technology. However, efficient online knowledge sharing among researchers is still limited. Although past literature proposes a series of motivators of online knowledge sharing, the differences in the effects of motivators remain in dispute. Thus, it is time to understand how motivators influence each other and inspire scientists to share knowledge and promote virtual communities. Based on the self-determination theory, this study proposes a model with several factors and analyze 301 Chinese researchers' data in an online WeChat cross-disciplinary research community by adopting SmartPls 2.0 and SPSS 22. The results reveal the effects of several antecedents and mediating effects of altruism and knowledge sharing behavior and report the differences of results among different demographic groups. This study enriches the literature in knowledge sharing on social media and proposes further research points to researchers and useful advice to practitioners.