Supporting sustained willingness to share knowledge with visual feedback

The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of simple, system-generated visual feedback on motivations to contribute knowledge to community-based crowdsourcing. Various kinds of visual feedback (status, rank contrast, average assimilation, and top assimilation) were created based on social comparison theory and cognitive evaluation theory. In addition, motivation to contribute knowledge over time was investigated. A total of 280 individuals participated in the experiment. The study found that 1) the rank contrast group completed less tasks than the control group, 2) the rank contrast and status group exhibited lower willingness to contribute than the control group, 3) participants who completed all tasks showed increased willingness to contribute over time, and 4) among participants who completed all tasks, social comparisons focused on achievable target goals resulted in greater willingness to further contribute knowledge over time. These findings provide theory-based, empirical support for the potential of external interventions such as visual feedback to influence willingness to contribute and sustain knowledge sharing.