Taking Time into Account: Understanding Microworkers’ Continued Participation in Microtasks
Authors: Jiang, Ling; Wagner, Christian; Chen, Xingyu
Journal: Journal of the Association for Information Systems (2021)
DOI: 10.17705/1jais.00684
<jats:p>Microtask crowdsourcing platforms foster digital assembly lines where microtasks are performed by on-demand microworkers. The sustainability of microtask crowdsourcing platforms and the timely completion of microtask batches hinge on microworkers’ continued participation, but our understanding of microworkers’ continuance remains unclear. Drawing on the theory of the allocation of time and the research on work motivational orientations, we hypothesize that three motivational orientations (i.e., compensation, enjoyment, and microtime structure) are positively associated with microworkers’ perceived relative advantage of microworking, which in turn enhances microworkers’ intent to continue microworking. The relationships between the three motivational orientations and relative advantage are moderated by microworkers’ perceived situational boredom and microwork status (i.e., ad hoc, part-time, and full-time). An online survey on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk provides empirical evidence for the predictive powers, which are contingent on situational boredom, of the three motivational orientations on relative advantage, suggesting that fine-grained microtasks cater to the inherent de…