IS BEST ANSWER REALLY THE BEST ANSWER? THE POLITENESS BIAS

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lee, Shun-Yang; Rui, Huaxia; Whinston, Andrew B.
• 署名单位: University of Connecticut; University of Rochester; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin
• 刊物名称: MIS QUARTERLY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0276-7783
• DOI: 10.25300/MISQ/2019/14160
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 579-+
• 关键词: knowledge management-systems; electronic networks; SPECIAL-ISSUE; Text analysis; language; JUDGMENT; ARGUMENT; IMPACT; words; MODEL

摘要

Popular knowledge management platforms such as community-based question answering sites (CQAs) and electronic networks of practice (ENPs) rely on accurate quality assessment of user-contributed content to ensure effective knowledge creation and exchange. However, quality assessment is subjective by nature. Based on the politeness theory, we hypothesize that answers written more politely are more likely to be perceived as high quality answers by the question asker due to the low face threat. We first test our hypotheses through a random coefficient logit model with data obtained from Stack Exchange, a popular CQA platform. We then conduct a randomized experiment where we exogenously manipulate the politeness level of otherwise similar answers. Our analyses, based on both the Stack Exchange dataset and the randomized experiment, lend strong support to the existence of a politeness bias, which affects question askers' subjective evaluation of answer quality. This study contributes to the literature in knowledge management, cognitive bias, and behavioral issues in information systems.