Platform incentives, user engagement and knowledge collaboration performance in online knowledge community: a cross-cultural perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect and mechanism of platform incentives on users’ knowledge collaboration performance (KCP) and the configuration leading to high KCP in online knowledge communities (OKCs) in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era from a cross-culture perspective. Design/methodology/approach A survey method and a standard questionnaire were applied. The data was analyzed using multiple regression and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. Findings The results indicate that, for both kinds of users, self-enhancement and communication positively affect the KCP. User engagement significantly mediates the relationship between communication and KCP and knowledge absorptive capacity moderates the relationship between user engagement and KCP. In contrast, material incentive positively affects the KCP of Chinese users, while hurting the cross-cultural sample. And the promotion of KCP for cross-cultural samples does not require a higher engagement and knowledge absorptive capacity, while paying more attention to short-term interests, such as communication and self-enhancement. Research limitations/implications The study only divides users into Chinese and cross-cultural foreign users, without a distinction between foreign users in different countries. In addition, the research is based on cross-sectional data and failed to try to explore the long-term effects of these incentives from the time dimension. Originality/value This study explores the incentive mechanism and configuration of OKC platforms to achieve high KCP for different users from a cross-cultural perspective. It provides new ideas and solutions for precise incentives for users of OKC platforms.