Exploring the effects of different achievement goals on contributor participation in crowdsourcing

Abstract

Purpose This study examines how contributors with different achievement goals participate under the influence of two common motivators/demotivators on crowdsourcing platforms, namely system design features and task nature.

Design/methodology/approach A free simulation experiment was conducted among undergraduate students with the use of a crowdsourcing platform for two weeks.

Findings The results indicate that contributors with a strong performance-approach goal get better scores and participate in more crowdsourcing tasks. Contributors with a strong mastery-avoidance goal participate in fewer heterogeneous tasks.

Research limitations/implications Contributors with different achievement goals participate in crowdsourcing tasks to different extents under the influence of the two motivators/demotivators. The inclusion of the approach-avoidance dimension in the performance-mastery dichotomy enables demonstrating the influence of motivators/demotivators more specifically. This article highlights differentiation between the quality and the quantity of heterogeneous crowdsourcing tasks.

Practical implications Management is advised to approach performance-approach people if a leaderboard and a point system are incorporated into their crowdsourcing platforms. Also, management should avoid offering heterogeneous tasks to mastery-avoidance contributors. System developers should take users' motivational goals into consideration when designing the motivators in their systems.

Originality/value The study sheds light on habitual achievement goals, which are relatively stable in comparison to contributors' motives and states. The relationships between achievement goals and motivators/demotivators are more persistent across time. This study informs system designers' decisions to include appropriate motivators for sustained contributor participation.