Knowledge platform affordances and knowledge collaboration performance: The mediating effect of user engagement

Area of Science:

• Information Science
• Social Science

Background:

• Knowledge collaboration is crucial for online platforms, involving knowledge transfer and social interaction.
• Understanding the formation mechanisms of knowledge collaboration is a significant research area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between knowledge platform affordances and knowledge collaboration performance.
• To examine the mediating role of user engagement in this relationship using affordance theory.

Main Methods:

• Survey data from 361 valid questionnaires on the Zhihu platform.
• Statistical analysis using SPSS 26.0 and Amos 24.0.

Main Results:

• Knowledge platform affordances positively influence knowledge collaboration performance directly.
• User engagement mediates the relationship, with specific paths identified: knowledge affordances-conscious participation-performance, knowledge affordances-enthusiasm-performance, and social affordances-social interaction-performance.

Conclusions:

• User engagement is a critical mediator between platform affordances and collaboration outcomes.
• Knowledge and social affordances significantly drive user engagement, which in turn enhances collaboration.
• Findings offer insights for optimizing knowledge platform design and development.