Mitigating the Adverse Effect of Monetary Incentives on Voluntary Contributions Online
研究提出目标设定和挑战寻求两种干预策略，通过随机实验发现小货币激励结合这些策略能同时提高贡献数量和质量，为依赖自愿贡献的平台提供低成本激励方案。
Numerous online information systems (e.g., question and answer [Q&A] forums, citizen science communities, and review websites) rely heavily on volunteer contributions. Managers have used monetary incentives to induce individuals to increase their contribution level. However, monetary incentives could also generate adverse effects, which could dampen individuals’ intrinsic motivation and lead to lower contribution quality when incentives are small. To address this issue, we propose two intervention strategies, goal-setting and challenge-seeking, and conduct a series of randomized experiments. We find that small monetary incentives, when combined with the appropriate intervention strategies, can motivate users to increase contribution quantity while simultaneously sustaining high quality. Thus, integrating such intervention strategies with small incentives can be a cost-effective way to encourage voluntary contributions. Our research contributes to the literature on incentive provision and provides theoretical and practical implications for platforms relying on voluntary contributions.