Using the SOR Paradigm to Understand User Lurking Behavior in Online Knowledge Communities

Abstract

Users' lurking behaviour may hinder the sustainable development of online knowledge communities. The purpose of this research is to examine users' lurking based on a stimulus-organism-response (SOR) paradigm. The results indicate that both social and technological factors affect anxiety and social network fatigue, both of which further determine lurking behavior. Social factors include social comparison and privacy concerns, whereas technological factors include information overload and function overload. The results imply that online knowledge communities need to be concerned with both perspectives of social and technological factors in order to mitigate users' anxiety and social network fatigue and prevent their lurking behaviour.