Dimensions of quality and accessibility: Selection of human information sources from a social capital perspective

This study focuses on how the accessibility and quality of co-workers in organizations affect their use as information source. Prior research has produced inconsistent findings concerning these factors’ respective influence on source selection. In this article, we argue that one potential reason for this lies in the lack of coherent definitions of accessibility and quality. To bridge this gap, we unpack these concepts into their underlying dimensions, based on insights derived from social capital theory, more specifically Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) contribution, to uncovering the multidimensionality of social capital. We empirically test the dimensionality of accessibility and quality, as well as the relative influence of these concepts on human information source selection, in a scenario experiment within an organization. Findings support the proposed dimensionality, and lead to the conclusion that both quality and accessibility influence the selection of human information sources, although quality exerts a slightly stronger influence.

► We examine the influence of accessibility and quality on the use of human information sources. ► We use social capital theory to identify the underlying dimensions of both accessibility and quality. ► Source accessibility consists of physical, relational and cognitive accessibility. ► Source quality consists of relevance and reliability. ► Both accessibility and quality are found to influence the use of human information sources, but the influence of quality is slightly stronger.