Customers’ knowledge contributions are a vital source of business value. This study is one of the few attempts to study the influence of emotional and informational feedback on knowledge contribution. Through quantitative content analysis, we analyzed content data from 2324 users in a firm-hosted online community. We found that informational support (argument quality and source credibility) and emotional support (emotional approval and emotional asymmetry) significantly affect customers’ knowledge contributions. Moreover, we identified an inverted-U relationship between emotional asymmetry and knowledge contributions in initiated posts. This study has implications for both researchers and practitioners.

客户的知识贡献是业务价值的重要来源。这项研究是研究情感和信息反馈对知识贡献的影响的少数尝试之一。通过定量内容分析，我们分析了公司托管的在线社区中2324个用户的内容数据。我们发现信息支持（论据质量和来源信誉）和情感支持（情感认同和情感不对称）显着影响客户的知识贡献。此外，我们确定了情绪不对称和发起职位中的知识贡献之间的倒U关系。这项研究对研究人员和从业人员都有影响。