Abstract
Despite the widespread conversion of free content to paid content, empirical research investigating social engagement in the paid context still lags. Moreover, prior research used like and comment to measure social engagement without considering their differences. In this study, we conceptualize like and comment on two distinct behavioral manifestations differing cognitive processes involved: low- and high-cognitive social engagement. Specifically, setting in a paid Q&A site, we identify the answer provider characteristic (i.e., the number of followers and posts) and answer characteristic (i.e., viewership revenue) as salient factors influencing social engagement. We compare their direct and interaction effects on the two types of social engagement. Results show that identified factors have a greater direct effect and smaller interaction effect on low-cognitive social engagement than on highcognitive social engagement. Our work advances knowledge of social engagement and has practical implications for platform practitioners to achieve social engagement.
Recommended Citation
Yang, Xueping; Ye, Jonathan; and Wang, Xinwei, "Understanding Different Cognitive Levels of Social Engagement: Evidence from Paid Q&A" (2020). ACIS 2020 Proceedings. 58.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2020/58