Motivational factors of users for participation in a crowdsourcing website

Abstract

Crowdsourcing, or the act of taking a task typically performed by an employee and outsourcing it to the general public, is used by many organizations today. It is also widespread on the Internet, where people can find various websites that are online crowdsourcing platforms like Threadless, iStockphoto, and Kickstarter. Studies have mostly focused on the crowdsourcing platform and its processes. However, few are still known about the users or the crowd, especially those from the Philippines. The general objective of this study is to identify the motivational factors that move users to participate in Company X, a website which applies crowdsourcing by tapping graphic designers from all over the world. It seeks to determine the demographics of Filipino users, determine the amount of time they spend doing crowdsourced tasks, discover the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that motivate them, and identify the most prevalent factors among Filipino participants. To achieve the objectives of the study, a survey was distributed to the Filipino users of Company X which yielded 91 responses. The findings of the study revealed that Filipino users in Company X are usually male, single, aged 20 to 39 years from different parts of the Philippines. They are also college graduates belonging to the lower and middle class. These Filipino users also differ in the amount of time they spend working on crowdsourced projects, ranging from four to twenty hours per week. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors motivate them to participate in Company X, but they are more highly intrinsically motivated with enjoyment as the most prevalent motivation.