Observation or interaction? Impact mechanisms of gig platform monitoring on gig workers’ cognitive work engagement

Though gig platforms increasingly employ algorithmic management and monitoring, the benefits and costs of platform monitoring and how these correspond to gig workers’ cognitive work engagement are not well understood. Drawing on supervisor monitoring literature and conservation of resource theory, this study proposes two types of gig platform monitoring (observational monitoring and interactional monitoring) and builds a moderated mediation model to analyze how these platform monitoring methods impact gig workers’ cognitive work engagement. PLS-SEM analysis of data from 269 time-lagged surveys from gig workers shows that, through the mediation of affective trust, observational monitoring is negatively and interactional monitoring is positively related to cognitive work engagement. Furthermore, interactional but not observational monitoring is positively related to cognitive work engagement through the mediation of affective commitment, and method control can enhance the positive relationship between affective trust and cognitive work engagement. These findings contribute to the literature on the nature of gig platform monitoring and its impacts on gig workers’ cognitive work engagement by differentiating observational and interactional monitoring. Gig platform managers will benefit from knowing that interactional but not observational monitoring can promote gig workers’ work engagement.