Getting users involved in idea crowdsourcing initiatives: An experimental approach to stimulate intrinsic motivation and intention to submit

Existing crowdsourcing research largely agrees that intrinsic motivation is essential for users' intention to submit ideas to company-hosted crowdsourcing initiatives. However, enhancing intrinsic motivation is particularly difficult in crowdsourcing settings, given the limited potential for personal exchange with others. Therefore, identifying effective interventions to stimulate intrinsic motivation is an important gap. We draw on research in analogous contexts characterized by the absence of significant others (e.g., creative artwork, sports, and self-directed learning). Using the self-determination theory as a theoretical foundation, we theorize that organizers can use monetary incentives (offering small rewards) and non-monetary rewards (increasing task complexity and using autonomy-supportive linguistic cues) to stimulate intrinsic motivation. In three lab-in-the-field experiments, we test our predictions. Quite counterintuitively, we find that small rewards (rather than no or large rewards) are an effective mechanism to intrinsically motivate users and increase their intention to submit their ideas to company-hosted idea crowdsourcing contests. Also, our findings reveal that increasing rather than lowering task complexity and using non-controlling rather than controlling linguistic cues can stimulate intrinsic motivation and submission intention. Our paper sheds first light on interventions stimulating intrinsic motivation in idea crowdsourcing. More generally, it also adds to the discussion of the small rewards effect.