Exploring the Effects of Different Incentives on Doctors’ Contribution Behaviors in Online Health Communities | SpringerLink
Skip to main content

Exploring the Effects of Different Incentives on Doctors’ Contribution Behaviors in Online Health Communities

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Smart Health (ICSH 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10983))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

With the dramatic development of Web 2.0, the occurrence of online health communities (OHCs) appeal to increasing number of patients and physicians to involve in this new healthcare platform. Extant literature has primarily discussed the motivation of knowledge sharing from participants in OHCs. However, scant studies have been conducted to explore the motivations of doctors’ contribution behaviors in OHCs. Drawing on motivation theory, knowledge sharing theory and social capital theory, we mainly examine the effects of monetary and reputational incentives on doctors’ continuous participation in OHCs. In addition, we also investigate how online incentive factors and offline status of doctors can interact hereby motivating doctors to better serve in the OHCs. We will collect data from an OHCs in China. The findings will not only enrich the relevant theory, but also help us to understand physicians’ motivation mechanisms in OHCs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
¥17,985 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
JPY 3498
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
JPY 5719
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
JPY 7149
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Valaitis, R.K., Akhtar-Danesh, N., Brooks, F., Binks, S., Semogas, D.: Online communities of practice as a communication resource for community health nurses working with homeless persons. J. Adv. Nurs. 67(6), 1273–1284 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Cao, X., Liu, Y., Zhu, Z., Hu, J., Chen, X.: Online selection of a physician by patients: empirical study from elaboration likelihood perspective. Comput. Hum. Behav. 73, 403–412 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ba, S., Wang, L.: Digital health communities: the effect of their motivation mechanisms. Decis. Support Syst. 55(4), 941–947 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Oh, H.J., Lee, B.: The effect of computer-mediated social support in online communities on patient empowerment and doctor-patient communication. Health Commun. 27(1), 30–41 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ba, S., Pavlou, P.A.: Evidence of the effect of trust building technology in electronic markets: price premiums and buyer behavior. MIS Q. 26(3), 243–268 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Armstrong, N., Powell, J.: Patient perspectives on health advice posted on internet discussion boards: a qualitative study. Health Expect. 12(3), 313–320 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Yan, L., Tan, Y.: Feeling blue? go online: an empirical study of social support among patients. Inf. Syst. Res. 25(4), 690–709 (2014)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. Oh, S.: The characteristics and motivations of health answerers for sharing information, knowledge, and experiences in online environments. J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 63(3), 543–557 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Wicks, P., et al.: Perceived benefits of sharing health data between people with epilepsy on an online platform. Epilepsy Behav. 23(1), 16–23 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. He, W., Wei, K.-K.: What drives continued knowledge sharing? an investigation of knowledge-contribution and-seeking beliefs. Decis. Support Syst. 46(4), 826–838 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Yan, Z., Wang, T., Chen, Y., Zhang, H.: Knowledge sharing in online health communities: a social exchange theory perspective. Inf. Manag. 53(5), 643–653 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bock, G.-W., Zmud, R.W., Kim, Y.-G., Lee, J.-N.: Behavioral intention formation in knowledge sharing: examining the roles of extrinsic motivators, social-psychological forces, and organizational climate. MIS Q. 29(1), 87–111 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L.: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: classic definitions and new directions. Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 25(1), 54–67 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Sun, Y., Fang, Y., Lim, K.H.: Understanding sustained participation in transactional virtual communities. Decis. Support Syst. 53(1), 12–22 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Gao, G., Greenwood, B., McCullough, J., Agarwal, R.: The information value of online physician ratings. (2011). Working paper

    Google Scholar 

  16. Centola, D., van de Rijt, A.: Choosing your network: social preferences in an online health community. Soc. Sci. Med. 125, 19–31 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Higgins, E.T.: Promotion and prevention: regulatory focus as a motivational principle. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 30, 1–46 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Higgins, E.T.: Beyond pleasure and pain. Am. Psychol. 52(12), 1280 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Liang, H., Xue, Y., Wu, L.: Ensuring employees’ it compliance: carrot or stick? Inf. Syst. Res. 24(2), 279–294 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Sun, S.-Y., Ju, T.L., Chumg, H.-F., Wu, C.-Y., Chao, P.-J.: Influence on willingness of virtual community’s knowledge sharing: based on social capital theory and habitual domain. World Acad. Sci. Eng. Technol. 53, 142–149 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Kankanhalli, A., Tan, B.C., Wei, K.-K.: Contributing knowledge to electronic knowledge repositories: an empirical investigation. MIS Q. 29(1), 113–143 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fei Liu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Liu, F., Guo, X., Ju, X., Han, X. (2018). Exploring the Effects of Different Incentives on Doctors’ Contribution Behaviors in Online Health Communities. In: Chen, H., Fang, Q., Zeng, D., Wu, J. (eds) Smart Health. ICSH 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10983. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03649-2_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03649-2_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03648-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03649-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics