The motivations of participants in crowdsourcing projects has been something I’ve touched on numerous times on this blog down the years.

Traditionally, it was regarded to be for one of fame; money; the challenge; or doing something worthwhile.  That’s fine, and it covers most of the bases pretty well, but as the concept has grown in popularity, so too have attempts to understand it.

All about the challenge

Lets look at a few in turn.  First up we had a paper from Georgia Tech whereby researchers delved into the Zooniverse world.

They found, perhaps not surprisingly, that intrinsic factors were key, which  included “enjoyment of solving challenging problems, from curiosity about the object or task, or from anticipated feelings of competence once a problem has been solved.”

Extrinsic factors and collaboration

A paper from Carnegie Mellon researchers looked at the role of extrinsic factors. They found that whilst a cash incentive, in this case a $1,000 prize, resulted in a doubling of overall effort levels, it had no impact at all on levels of collaboration.

The role of data release

A third study, led by Karim Lakhani, looked at the role data release played in motivation of participants.  It found that when regular information about the status of the project was disclosed, it resulted in less participation, but the quality tended to improve as greater recombination occurred.

Exploring the key players

A fourth study, from researchers from Duke and LSE, looked at the motivation behind the core participants in an open source software project.  It suggests that the most productive contributors to a project were attracted by the amount of control they were given over that project.

Motivations in the sharing economy

So, as you can see, a reasonably diverse mix, but most of the motivation came from within.  A recent paper has explored whether the same is the case in the sharing economy.  Why do people participate in collaborative consumption?

It turns out that participants in the sharing economy share many of the same motivations as those in crowdsourcing.  Things like sustainability and enjoyment are important motivational factors behind participation, and are at least as important as making some extra cash.

The top factors were revealed to include a sense of community, the environmental benefits of sharing, enjoyment derived from doing so and a saving of time and money.

Sharing economy principles

The environmental motivations should perhaps be no surprise given that this was one of the founding principles of the sharing economy.  A sense of paying it forward was also present in the movement from the outset, so seeing both motivations persisting is to be expected.

Indeed, it is fairly common for consumers to link their purchases with their sense of self-identity, although the study finds that there is sometimes a disconnect between how we think about the sharing economy, and how we actually act within it.

As the sharing economy grows in size, it seems inevitable that many different consumers will be drawn to it, with very different motivations for participating.  It also seems inevitable that it will attract more and more researchers looking to explore what those motivations are.  A space to watch with interest.