How question type influences knowledge withholding in social Q&A community

Social question‐and‐answer (Q&A) communities are becoming increasingly important for knowledge acquisition. However, some users withhold knowledge, which can hinder the effectiveness of these platforms. Based on social exchange theory, the study investigates how different types of questions infl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Vol. 74; no. 10; pp. 1170 - 1184
Main Authors Zhang, Xing, Wang, Durong, Tang, Yuyao, Xiao, Quan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hoboken Wiley Periodicals Inc 01.10.2023
Subjects
Antecedents
Boundary conditions
Fear
Knowledge
Knowledge acquisition
Questions
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Summary:Social question‐and‐answer (Q&A) communities are becoming increasingly important for knowledge acquisition. However, some users withhold knowledge, which can hinder the effectiveness of these platforms. Based on social exchange theory, the study investigates how different types of questions influence knowledge withholding, with question difficulty and user anonymity as boundary conditions. Two experiments were conducted to test hypotheses. Results indicate that informational questions are more likely to lead to knowledge withholding than conversational ones, as they elicit more fear of negative evaluation and fear of exploitation. The study also examines the interplay of question difficulty and user anonymity with question type. Overall, this study significantly extends the existing literature on counterproductive knowledge behavior by exploring the antecedents of knowledge withholding in social Q&A communities.
ISSN:2330-1635
2330-1643
DOI:10.1002/asi.24813