TY - JOUR

T1 - The role of system‐use practices for sustaining motivation in crowdsourcing

T2 - A technology‐in‐practice perspective

AU - Alam, Sultana Lubna

AU - Sun, Ruonan

PY - 2023/7/31

Y1 - 2023/7/31

N2 - The success of crowdsourcing (CS) systems depends on sustained participation, which is an ongoing challenge for the majority of CS providers. Unfortunately, participants are frequently demotivated by technical difficulties and the incorrect use of CS systems, which can result in CS failure. Although the literature generally assumes that sustained participation in CS is determined by a shift between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the role of system‐use practices in facilitating such a shift remains unknown. We explore how CS system‐use practices influence participants' sustained motivation, evolving from initiation to progression to sustention. Using the notion of technology‐in‐practice as a lens, we develop and examine a process model using an in‐depth case study of a large‐scale ongoing CS project, the Australian Newspaper Digitisation Program. The findings suggest that CS participants' motivation is shaped by an evolving combination of three basic components (i.e., contextual condition, outcome and action intensity) and mediated by two types of system‐use practice (i.e., passive and active). Passive‐use practices facilitate sustaining motivation from initiation to progression, whereas active‐use practices have a key role in sustention. Our study contributes to the emerging literature on the substantial role of system‐use practices in sustaining motivation, resulting in sustained participation. The findings also offer actionable insights into improving the viability of CS systems in retaining and motivating continuous and increased contributions from participants.

AB - The success of crowdsourcing (CS) systems depends on sustained participation, which is an ongoing challenge for the majority of CS providers. Unfortunately, participants are frequently demotivated by technical difficulties and the incorrect use of CS systems, which can result in CS failure. Although the literature generally assumes that sustained participation in CS is determined by a shift between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the role of system‐use practices in facilitating such a shift remains unknown. We explore how CS system‐use practices influence participants' sustained motivation, evolving from initiation to progression to sustention. Using the notion of technology‐in‐practice as a lens, we develop and examine a process model using an in‐depth case study of a large‐scale ongoing CS project, the Australian Newspaper Digitisation Program. The findings suggest that CS participants' motivation is shaped by an evolving combination of three basic components (i.e., contextual condition, outcome and action intensity) and mediated by two types of system‐use practice (i.e., passive and active). Passive‐use practices facilitate sustaining motivation from initiation to progression, whereas active‐use practices have a key role in sustention. Our study contributes to the emerging literature on the substantial role of system‐use practices in sustaining motivation, resulting in sustained participation. The findings also offer actionable insights into improving the viability of CS systems in retaining and motivating continuous and increased contributions from participants.

KW - crowdsourcing

KW - sustained participation

KW - sustaining motivation

KW - system‐use practices

KW - technology‐in‐practice

U2 - 10.1111/isj.12423

DO - 10.1111/isj.12423

M3 - Journal article

VL - 33

SP - 758

EP - 789

JO - Information Systems Journal

JF - Information Systems Journal

SN - 1350-1917

IS - 4

M1 - 4

ER -