Title: Competence development in crowdsourcing: examining the impact of different evaluation standards

Authors: Andrey Barashev; Guoxin Li

Addresses: School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China ' School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China

Abstract: The paper aims to extend our understanding of solvers' motivation in the crowdsourcing context by examining differential effects of competence development in terms of absolute, interpersonal, and intrapersonal standards, as well as to distinguish the influence of competence striving on effort and engagement on the crowdsourcing platform. We conduct an analytic study using an online survey on the massive Chinese platform - taskcn.com. Participants were selected on the criteria of their experience on the platform. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Based on a survey of 291 crowdsourcing participants, the study indicates that striving to demonstrate competence related to others does not enhance engagement or effort. However, self-based and task-based competence striving both predicted crowdsourcing participants' effort positively. Furthermore, engagement was only predicted by mastery competence development when individuals tried to enhance their skills and knowledge relative to themselves. In this case, engagement also mediated the relation between self-based striving and effort. These findings shed light on the complex mechanisms underlying participants' motivation, effort, and engagement in crowdsourcing and provide implications for the theory and practice of crowdsourcing management.

Keywords: crowdsourcing; work engagement; effort; achievement motivation; competence development; motivation.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2024.140294

European Journal of International Management, 2024 Vol.24 No.1, pp.103 - 122

Received: 07 May 2019
Accepted: 03 Feb 2020
Published online: 02 Aug 2024 *

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