2. The Influence of Network Location on Users’ Sustainable Knowledge Contribution网络位置对用户可持续知识贡献的影响
Social社会学习理论认为,社会成员在他人的影响下会产生学习行为,这种影响可能是直接互动,也可能是间接观察[ learning37 theory]。在 believes that social members will have learning behaviors under the influence of others, and this influence may be direct interaction or indirect observation [18]. In an OIP
, users can increase their skill reserves by interacting with other users, thereby enhancing creativity and promoting sustainable knowledge contributions. The interaction in an OIP creates a network relationship to obtain external knowledge. In the paper, network breadth refers to the degree of connection between users and other users, and network depth refers to the level of embeddedness in the platform’s interactive network.中,用户可以通过与其他用户互动来增加他们的技能储备,从而增强创造力并促进可持续的知识贡献。OIP 中的交互创建网络关系以获取外部知识。在本文中,网络广度是指用户与其他用户之间的联系程度,网络深度是指在平台交互网络中的嵌入程度。
Network网络广度是指用户通过网络连接获得的知识范围。通过交互网络,用户可以直接与网络中的其他用户联系,获取其他用户的外部知识。社会资本理论表明,一个人的关系网络中所有知识资源的集合可以强烈影响人际知识共享的程度[ breadth38 refers to the range of knowledge gained by users through network connections. Through the interactive network, users can directly connect with other users in the network and obtain external knowledge of other users. The social capital theory shows that the collection of all knowledge resources in a person’s relationship network can strongly affect the degree of interpersonal knowledge sharing [19]. Knowledge is very important for innovation, but the cost of acquisition is very high. The interaction between members of the ]。知识对于创新非常重要,但获取成本非常高。OIP
provides成员之间的互动为获取更广泛的知识来源提供了一种具有成本效益的方式。用户的社交互动越多,信息交流的强度、频率和广度就越大[ a39]。用户在网络上的连接越多,他们在创新过程中可以访问的创新资源和外部信息就越多。与其他用户的创新知识交流越多,创新绩效可能就越高[ cost-effective40 way]。广泛的网络连接可以为用户提供新的见解,减少认知工作,并提高新知识的创造率[ to13 obtain a wider range of knowledge sources. The more social interactions users have, the greater the intensity, frequency, and breadth of information exchange [20]. The more connections a user has on the network, the more innovative resources and external information they can access during the innovation process. The more innovative knowledge exchanges with other users, the higher the innovation performance may be [21]. Extensive network connections can provide users with new insights, reduce cognitive effort, and increase the rate of creation of new knowledge [13].]。
Network depth refers to the contact distance with other users in the interactive network, that is, the degree of embeddedness in the network. In other words, network depth means the distance from a user to other users connected directly or indirectly in the network. When deeply embedded in the network, users can quickly access relevant information. However, an excessively embedded network will cause users to access redundant information, which limits their ability to effectively explore new knowledge in the network
[22][41]. Proximity to other users’ network locations may cause similar or redundant information loops, confining users to their perceptions. This kind of cognitive lock-in may inhibit users’ motivation to explore new knowledge from external networks and hinder their motivation to continue to innovate, resulting in a decline in sustainable knowledge contribution. When the user is deeply embedded in the network, the user’s motivation to explore new ideas and create new knowledge from the network will be weakened. As old knowledge becomes obsolete, users further lose their motivation to continue to innovate, which hinders their sustainable knowledge contribution
[16].
3. The Influence of Knowledge Diversity on User’s Sustainable Knowledge Contribution
Knowledge diversity refers to the abundance of individual knowledge, experience, and skills, and is a measure of the user’s internal knowledge level
[23][42]. The collection of knowledge elements owned by each individual and the relationship between these collections constitute a personal knowledge base. Innovation is the process of reorganizing the knowledge elements in the knowledge base
[24][43]. In an OIP, users have different professional levels and experience, and each person’s knowledge inventory is also different, and there is a gap in their innovative ability. Users with diverse knowledge are more able to promote knowledge transfer and sharing
[25][44]. According to Nonaka’s research, diverse knowledge will stimulate users’ innovative thinking and produce more practical ideas
[26][21].
Users with different knowledge levels have different motivations to contribute to their knowledge. Generally speaking, users with low knowledge levels only contribute knowledge to obtain platform rewards, whereas users with high levels not only gain platform revenue but also gain new knowledge
[25][44]. According to the theory of planned behavior, in an OIP, users’ perception and control of knowledge creation are determined by their knowledge level. If users do not have enough knowledge, even if they have the willingness to create new knowledge, they will not undergo sustainable knowledge contribution behavior
[27][45]. In other words, the willingness to innovate alone is not enough, and the knowledge and ability to support the generation of innovation is also required
[28][46]. In an OIP, users need a series of knowledge related to products and services to propose ideas.
4. Difference Analysis of Knowledge Absorption Effect to User Sustainable Knowledge Contribution
Absorptive capacity is the ability to recognize, digest, transform, and develop and utilize knowledge. Cognitive and behavioral science research shows that absorbing knowledge is the process of using the knowledge through the evaluation of external knowledge, establishing connections with pre-concepts, and associating existing knowledge after possessing internal knowledge
[16]. The process of interactive digestion of external knowledge and internal knowledge is the process of knowledge absorption. The knowledge absorption effect expresses the degree of utilization of knowledge after the interaction between internal knowledge and external knowledge
[16]. For OIP users, based on existing internal knowledge, they can use external knowledge by establishing network connections with other users.
According to cognitive load theory, each user’s attention is limited. When internal knowledge is highly diversified, the value of acquiring external knowledge may be more limited, because a wealth of internal knowledge can provide enough new perspectives. The high network breadth will increase the cost for users to integrate knowledge from different sources. This diverse external knowledge may collide with the existing internal knowledge, resulting in difficult coordination
[29][47]. When users accept a wide range of external knowledge, the direction of internal knowledge may be the opposite. Users need to spend more time and energy to coordinate this knowledge, which will significantly reduce the speed of the sustainable knowledge contribution. For users with a high level of knowledge, an extensive network may also increase the complexity of the integration of internal and external knowledge, which reduces the level of user knowledge absorption and leads to a decrease in user sustainable knowledge contribution
[30][48]. For users with low knowledge levels, extensive network connections can help users obtain more external knowledge, and the problem of insufficient internal knowledge can be alleviated through extensive external knowledge.
Deeply embedded networks can obtain overall network information more easily and quickly, and achieve better performance with “less information transmission, shorter time, and lower cost”
[15]. The extensive knowledge base helps users evaluate development trends from different perspectives. When deeply embedded in the network, users can quickly develop the best knowledge about technological trends and related expertise
[15][16][15,16],并获得最佳发展方向。虽然过度的网络嵌入可能会导致用户的知识冗余,但对于知识水平高、知识多样的用户来说,他们广泛的知识和多角度的思维可以缓解这种认知锁定。深度嵌入网络,
and obtain the best development direction. Although excessive network embedding may cause knowledge redundancy for users, for users with high knowledge levels with diverse knowledge, their broad knowledge and multi-angle thinking can alleviate this cognitive lock-in. The deeply embedded network helps users better and more quickly understand the overall status of the 帮助用户更好更快地了解OIP
网络的整体状况,掌握最新动向[ network and grasp the latest trends [16]. The smaller the knowledge distance, the fewer intermediate steps the knowledge receiver takes to absorb knowledge, and the efficiency of knowledge absorption increases. For users with high knowledge levels, by quickly acquiring external knowledge, understanding the most promising development direction, and gathering their diversified knowledge, they can create more new knowledge more quickly. For users with low levels of knowledge, based on insufficient internal knowledge, deep embedding in the network makes it worse. Redundant external knowledge can only limit the development of their thinking and is not conducive to their sustainable knowledge contribution.16]。知识距离越小,知识接受者吸收知识所采取的中间步骤就越少,知识吸收的效率就会提高。对于知识水平较高的用户,通过快速获取外部知识,了解最有前景的发展方向,积累多元化的知识,可以更快地创造出更多的新知识。对于知识水平较低的用户,基于内部知识不足,在网络中深度嵌入会使情况变得更糟。多余的外部知识只能限制他们思维的发展,不利于他们可持续的知识贡献。