What Motivates Contributors vs. Lurkers? An Investigation of Online Feedback Forums
Authors: Phang, Chee Wei; Kankanhalli, Atreyi; Tan, Bernard C. Y.
Journal: Information Systems Research (2015)
<jats:p>Organizations are setting up online forums to obtain inputs and feedback from key stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and citizens. Examples of such virtual spaces are online policy deliberation forums (OPDFs) initiated by government organizations to garner citizens’ views on policy issues. Incorporating the inputs from these forums can result in more inclusive policies for societal benefit. Yet, as with other such forums, a common issue facing OPDFs is the sustainability of participation. When examining this issue, previous research has mostly explored the participation antecedents of existing contributors. However, engaging lurkers is also important, because these forums need to compensate for contributor attrition and become more effective with greater reach. Thus motivated, this study develops a model to explain the antecedents of both contributors’ and lurkers’ participation deriving from public participation and information technology-enabled public goods theories. It hypothesizes differences in the antecedents for contributors versus lurkers based primarily on construal level theory. The model was empirically validated through a survey of contributors and lu…