Paper Type
ERF
Abstract
Research on knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice has primarily focused on asymmetric contexts, such as those where experts assist novices. Leveraging a professional community of physicians on social media, we examine a distinct phenomenon in which experts publicly challenge other experts, shifting the focus from help-seeking to voluntary performance under visible evaluation. Drawing on task complexity theory and information-gap theory, we conceptualize challenge difficulty as multidimensional, comprising information scarcity (the extent of diagnostic context provided) and diagnostic complexity (the inherent medical case difficulty). We theorize that professional expertise selectively mitigates the effect of diagnostic complexity but not information scarcity in shaping engagement. Using a dyadic dataset of nearly one million challenge-expert observations over ten years, we provide preliminary evidence consistent with our framework. Our findings offer insights into how task difficulty and reputational stakes influence voluntary engagement in professional knowledge communities.
Paper Number
1592
Recommended Citation
Hu, Yupei; Gunarathne, Priyanga; and Ramasubbu, Narayan, "The Puzzle Effect: How Difficulty Dimensions Shape Engagement in Professional Knowledge Communities" (2026). AMCIS 2026 Proceedings. 4.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2026/vcc/vcc/4
The Puzzle Effect: How Difficulty Dimensions Shape Engagement in Professional Knowledge Communities
Research on knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice has primarily focused on asymmetric contexts, such as those where experts assist novices. Leveraging a professional community of physicians on social media, we examine a distinct phenomenon in which experts publicly challenge other experts, shifting the focus from help-seeking to voluntary performance under visible evaluation. Drawing on task complexity theory and information-gap theory, we conceptualize challenge difficulty as multidimensional, comprising information scarcity (the extent of diagnostic context provided) and diagnostic complexity (the inherent medical case difficulty). We theorize that professional expertise selectively mitigates the effect of diagnostic complexity but not information scarcity in shaping engagement. Using a dyadic dataset of nearly one million challenge-expert observations over ten years, we provide preliminary evidence consistent with our framework. Our findings offer insights into how task difficulty and reputational stakes influence voluntary engagement in professional knowledge communities.
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