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Using Social Psychology to Motivate Contributions to Online Communities

  1. Kimberly Ling1,*,
  2. Gerard Beenen2,*,
  3. Pamela Ludford3,*,
  4. Xiaoqing Wang4,*,
  5. Klarissa Chang5,*,
  6. Xin Li6,*,
  7. Dan Cosley7,*,
  8. Dan Frankowski8,*,
  9. Loren Terveen9,*,
  10. Al Mamunur Rashid10,*,
  11. Paul Resnick11,*,
  12. Robert Kraut12,*

Article first published online: 23 JUN 2006

DOI: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2005.tb00273.x

Issue

Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

Volume 10, Issue 4, page 00, July 2005

Additional Information

How to Cite

Ling, K., Beenen, G., Ludford, P., Wang, X., Chang, K., Li, X., Cosley, D., Frankowski, D., Terveen, L., Rashid, A. M., Resnick, P. and Kraut, R. (2005), Using Social Psychology to Motivate Contributions to Online Communities. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10: 00. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2005.tb00273.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    A Ph.D. student of Organizational Behavior and Theory at the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests include motivation and social support in online communities, positive organizational behavior, and the impact of emotions on decision making.

  2. 2

    A Ph.D. student of Organizational Behavior and Theory at the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on work group effectiveness.

  3. 3

    A Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota, Department of Computer Science. Her research currently focuses on technology for collaboration via mobile computing devices equipped with location-based information services. She is completing the design and implementation for a mobile technology called PlaceMail, which will allow people to leave (and access) notes for themselves and others at places they frequent. More information is available at http://www.cs.umn.edu/~ludford.

  4. 4

    A Ph.D. student in Management Information Systems at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include online community maintenance, community tool design, user participation, and technology acceptance.

  5. 5

    A Ph.D. student of Organizational Behavior and Theory at the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests include psychological contracts, social exchange and trust, ideological currency in distributed teams, knowledge management for remote workers, and social networks in virtual communities.

  6. 6

    A graduate student at the Department of Economics University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interest lies in the areas of behavioral public economics, experimental economics, and economics of Internet.

  7. 7

    A Ph.D. student in the Computer Science Department, University of Minnesota. His research interests include motivation in online communities, recommender systems, and the effects of technologies on the people that use them.

  8. 8

    A staff scientist in the Computer Science Department, University of Minnesota. His research interests are collaborative systems, recommender systems, and data mining.

  9. 9

    An Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. His research interests are human-computer interaction and computer-mediated communication. He is especially interested in the use of technology to help people create and develop strong social ties.

  10. 10

    A Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Minnesota. He is interested in applying Machine Learning and Data Mining techniques to novel applications and problems, particularly in Human Computer Interactions.

  11. 11

    A Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. His research focuses on recommender and reputation systems and other forms of SocioTechnical Capital.

  12. 12

    Herbert A. Simon Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Kraut has broad interests in the design and social impact of computing and conducts research on everyday use of the Internet, technology and conversation, collaboration in small work groups, computing in organizations, and contributions to online communities. His most recent work examines factors influencing the success of online communities and ways to apply psychology theory to their design. More information is available at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kraut

*Address: Tech and Frew Streets, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15213 USA
Address: Tech and Frew Streets, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15213 USA
Address: 4-192 EE/CS Building, 200 Union St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
Address: 249 Mervis Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA
Address: Tech and Frew Streets, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15213 USA
Address: University of Michigan, Economics Department, 238 Lorch Hall, 611 Tappan St., Ann Arbor MI 48109-1220 USA
Address: University of Minnesota, 200 Union Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
Address: University of Minnesota, 200 Union Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
Address: University of Minnesota, 200 Union Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
Address: University of Minnesota, 200 Union Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
Address: University of Michigan, 3210 SI North, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA
Address: Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15221 USA

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 23 JUN 2006
  2. Article first published online: 23 JUN 2006

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Abstract

Under-contribution is a problem for many online communities. Social psychology theories of social loafing and goal-setting can lead to mid-level design goals to address this problem. We tested design principles derived from these theories in four field experiments involving members of an online movie recommender community. In each of the experiments participated were given different explanations for the value of their contributions. As predicted by theory, individuals contributed when they were reminded of their uniqueness and when they were given specific and challenging goals. However, other predictions were disconfirmed. For example, in one experiment, participants given group goals contributed more than those given individual goals. The article ends with suggestions and challenges for mining design implications from social science theories.

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