Understanding Users' Contributions in Open Source Software Communities

Abstract

User contributions are crucial to the success of open source software (OSS) communities. As users conduct frequent interactions between each other, their contribution behaviour may receive the social influence from other members. Drawing on the social influence theory, this research examined user contributions in OSS communities. The results indicated that contribution intention is significantly affected by social identity, which includes cognitive, affective and evaluative identity. In addition, the researchers found that the subjective norm has a negative effect on contribution intention. The results imply that service providers need to enhance user identification with the community in order to facilitate their contribution in OSS communities.