行为控制对威客持续参与意愿的影响:被调节的中介模型

威客的持续参与意愿是维持众包平台可持续性发展的关键因素。在众包参与过程中,平台实施的控制机制是否会影响持续参与意愿还缺乏系统的理论分析和实证研究。基于感知组织支持理论,本文构建了被调节的中介模型和相关假设,探讨行为控制如何通过归属感的中介作用影响持续参与意愿,以及在不同的程序公平水平下,行为控制通过归属感提升持续参与意愿的机制会有怎样的变化。基于“猪八戒网”搜集的290份样本数据,对模型进行实证检验。结果表明,归属感在行为控制影响持续参与意愿的关系中起部分中介作用;同时,程序公平正向调节上述中介作用,即程序公平越高,归属感在行为控制与持续参与意愿关系间的中介作用越容易实现。研究结果丰富、扩展了已有的众包理论研究,并为众包实践提供了管理启示与指导。

Understanding the effect of behavioral control on continuance intention:A moderated mediation model

I have witnessed the rapidly growing interest in crowdsourcing contests,and the growing interest has fueled the development of intermediary crowdsourcing platforms.In spite of the popularity,many crowdsourcing contest platforms are recently facing a declined number of active solvers.Solvers’continuance intention plays a crucial role in the sustainability and eventual success of crowdsourcing platforms.Some extant crowdsourcing studies have paid some effort on explaining solvers’continuance intention;however,much remains unknown,and more effort on this topic is needed.Especially,there is little research focusing on how control mechanisms impact continuance participation intention.Behavioral control is an important formal control mechanism and is widely used to manage various complex activities.It can promote the crowdsourcing process,reduce potential risks,and create a good environment,leading to positive feelings and reactions.Hence,behavioral control has the potential to improve solvers’continuance intention in crowdsourcing contests.However,the direct aim of behavioral control is to ensure the crowdsourcing process can be carried out successfully,not to compel solvers to participate in crowdsourcing tasks.So it is needed to understand the mechanism between behavioral control and continuance intention.Based on the perceived organizational support theory,this study respectively introduces a sense of belonging and procedural fairness as a mediator and a moderator to explain how behavioral control impacts solvers’continuance intention.A moderated mediation model is developed to study how behavioral control influences the continuance of participation intention through the mediating role of sense of belonging,and how this mediating effect varies at different levels of procedural fairness.Based on the research model,we propose five corresponding hypotheses.Then,based on the existing mature scale and definitions of the constructs,we conducted two surveys separated by a 2-week lag to collect the data.We received 290 valid responses finally.After an analysis of the data reliability and validity,we empirically test the research model and hypotheses.Results show that:(1)behavioral control is positively associated with continuance intention;(2)behavioral control is positively associated with sense of belonging;(3)sense of belonging has a mediating effect on the relationship between behavioral control and continuance intention;(4)procedural fairness positively moderates the relationship between behavioral control and continuance intention;(5)procedural fairness is further found to positively moderate the mediating effect caused by the sense of belonging.That is,when procedural fairness is high,behavioral control can improve continuance intention indirectly through a sense of belonging.While when procedural fairness is low,the mediating effect of sense of belonging becomes non-significant.These findings make several contributions both to the theory and the practice.Theoretically,this study contributes to crowdsourcing research by providing a new perspective to study continuance intention,and by explicitly explaining the mechanism of how behavioral control impacts continuance intention with a sense of belonging and procedural fairness.These findings also offer some new insights for crowdsourcing managers to leverage behavioral control to trigger solvers’continuance intention and improve the sustainability of crowdsourcing.