Do you see what I see? A social capital perspective on microtask gig worker opportunity recognition within electronic networks of practice |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Management, Information Systems, and Quantitative Methods, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 710 13th St S., Birmingham, AL 35233, USA;2. Department of Management Information Systems, Fox School of Business, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA;1. School of Business, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, India;2. Department of General Management, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, UP, India;1. Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, Canada;2. Royal Holloway, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom;3. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway;1. School of Management, Binghamton University, The State University of New York, 4400 Vestal Pkwy E, Binghamton, NY 13902;2. Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security, The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA;1. University of Siegen, Chair of Information Systems, Kohlbettstrasse 15, D-57072 Siegen, Germany;2. University of Innsbruck, Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management, Universitaetsstrasse 15, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria;3. University of Bremen Faculty 03 Mathematics and Computer Science, Digital Public, Bibliothekstraße 5, D-28359 Bremen, Germany |
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| Abstract: | Microtask gig workers (MGWs) rely on digital platforms to arrange work agreements with requesters to complete well-defined microtasks. Many MGWs use an electronic network of practice (ENP) to facilitate information sharing about desirable and undesirable microtasks. This study uses social capital theory to theorize how social capital’s dimensions – structural, cognitive, and relational – shape the development of uncertainty-reducing and individualized-skill benefits. Based on survey data from 436 Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers, the findings demonstrate that unique social capital dimensions affect specific ENP benefits. Understanding the communication style of an ENP (i.e., cognitive social capital) positively influences the uncertainty-reducing benefits of microtask information quality (MIQ) related to MTurk work. Combined with expectations of reciprocity and trust in ENP members (i.e., relational social capital), MIQ shapes microtask opportunity recognition (MOR), whereby individual MGWs identify opportunities to complete financially beneficial microtasks. The present study demonstrates that contextual factors, based on the coopetive nature of microtask ENPs, affect the interrelated structure of social capital theory and its underlying dimensions. Lastly, post hoc findings demonstrate the influence of MOR on MGWs’ financial performance, challenging previously held assumptions about the role of MIQ within the microtask literature. |
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| Keywords: | Social capital theory Microtask information quality Electronic network of practice Amazon Mechanical Turk MTurk Gig economy Microtask opportunity recognition Crowdwork |
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