The influence of the community climate on users' knowledge-sharing intention: the social cognitive theory perspective

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the underlying mechanism of the community climate on knowledge-sharing intention in virtual communities. Based on social cognitive theory, a theoretical model was developed and empirically tested using a web-based survey of 525 members from an online question and answer (Q&A) community in China. Results showed that knowledge-sharing self-efficacy and outcome expectation played a chain mediation role in the relationship between the community climate and knowledge-sharing intention. This study is among the first to examine whether and how community climate influences knowledge sharing. Our research findings unpack the mechanism of the community climate on knowledge-sharing intention, and provide practical insights on how to use community climate to facilitate users to share knowledge in online Q&A communities.

Automated summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence mechanism of community climate on knowledge-sharing intention in virtual communities. The results show that knowledge-sharing self-efficacy and outcome expectation mediate the relationship between community climate and knowledge-sharing intention. This study provides practical insights on facilitating knowledge sharing in online Q&A communities by understanding the mechanism of community climate.