Unpacking determinants of knowledge quality in an online knowledge community: group heterogeneity, interactive processes, and feedback effect

Purpose An online knowledge community (OKC) is an important platform for people to produce and share knowledge. Many factors affecting the knowledge quality of OKC have been explored, but the feedback effect of knowledge quality has been ignored while feedback is a potentially powerful tool to enhance organizational effectiveness. This paper explores the cyclical causal feedback relationship among group heterogeneity, interactive processes, and knowledge quality. Design/methodology/approach We drew on the Input-Mediator-Output-Input model (IMOI) to explore the cyclical causal feedback among group heterogeneity, interactive processes, and knowledge quality, then used panel data with the editing history of 117 articles extracted from Wikipedia to test the causality among these variables via the two-step system GMM estimation method. Findings There is a positive feedback loop among knowledge heterogeneity, interactive processes, and knowledge quality. Experience heterogeneity had no significant impact on interactive processes and knowledge quality, while knowledge quality in the previous stage had a significant negative feedback effect on experience heterogeneity in the next stage. Research limitations/implications This research was conducted in the context of Wikipedia. We expect that the results will generalize to other OKC platforms. Practical implications The findings could assist OKC managers in understanding the dynamic evolution of knowledge quality. Enriching members’ knowledge heterogeneity and promoting interaction are the keys to continuously improving knowledge quality. Originality/value This study extends the IMOI framework to an OKC context and finds the cyclical causal feedback relationship among group heterogeneity, interactive processes, and knowledge quality.