How to enhance solvers’ continuance intention in crowdsourcing contest

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying mechanisms through which interactivity and fairness perception impart influence on solvers’ continuance intention in crowdsourcing contest settings. Design/methodology/approach: On basis of self-determination theory and social exchange theory, this study focuses on the mediating roles of motivation and platform trust to explain the underlying influence processes of interactivity and fairness perception on continuance intention. A sample of 306 solvers was obtained from an online crowdsourcing platform through two separated surveys. The hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares method and bias-corrected bootstrapping method. Findings: The empirical results indicate that motivation and platform trust together fully mediate the effect of interactivity on continuance intention, and the effect of fairness perception on continuance intention is also fully mediated by motivation and platform trust. While motivation is found to have a stronger mediating effect than platform trust does. Originality/value: This study contributes to the crowdsourcing research by figuring out the pathway through which interactivity and fairness perception influence solvers’ continuance intention.