The Influence of Social Media on Employee’s Knowledge Sharing Motivation: A Two-Factor Theory Perspective

Abstract

This study aims to investigate social media (hygiene factor), motivators (allow employees to share knowledge), and employee’s knowledge sharing motivation (KSM). For this purpose, the author introduces two-factor theory as its research framework to propose research hypotheses and construct the theoretical model. Then the model is tested and validated based on a survey of 278 enterprise employees in China, utilizing structural equation modeling through SPSS statistics and AMOS. It is found that first, the three states of knowledge sharing (lack of motivation, intermediate state, and with motivation) constitute two continuums. The satisfaction of motivators and hygiene factors respectively lead to changes in the state of motivation to share, and second, social media affects the staff’s motivation to share through both a direct and an indirect pathway. Directly, as the hygiene factor, the absence of social media will weaken the staff’s motivation to share. However, its usage doesn’t directly increase employees’ sharing motivation. Indirectly, through the mediating effect of self-efficacy social media can influence knowledge sharing motivation of employees.