Compilation and Application of the Scale of Sustainable Knowledge Sharing Willingness in Virtual Academic Community During the Times of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)

Abstract

With the outbreak of COVID-19, many offline academic activities have been turned online, and virtual academic communities have been further emphasized. Based on this situation, this study took the Eagly and Chaiken’s Heuristic-System Model of Persuasion and the general rules of behavioral decision as a theoretical basis, established a theoretical model of sustainable knowledge sharing willingness in virtual academic communities. Firstly, this study developed the scale of willingness to share sustainable knowledge based on the heuristic system model of persuasion. After analyzing the data of 62 participants, the scale was revised. Secondly, 256 valid data were collected from China, the United States, Singapore, and Indonesia. Finally, the conceptual model and theoretical hypothesis were tested based on the data. The results show that knowledge sharing satisfaction is affected by heuristic factors (knowledge sharing quantity, knowledge source credibility) and system factors (knowledge sharing quality, knowledge sharing usefulness), and has a significant positive correlation with sustainable knowledge sharing willingness.