An Empirical Study on the Spillover Effect of Monetary Incentives on Physicians’ Free Knowledge Contribution Behaviors in Online Healthcare Communities

Online medical communities often rely on paid online consultations to encourage physicians to provide higher-quality medical expertise, fostering the community's sustainable development. However, the impact of this monetary incentive on physicians’ contributions of free knowledge remains uncertain. To address this question, we empirically examine how the introduction of monetary incentives within a healthcare community influences physicians’ voluntary knowledge contributions through a natural experiment. Combining propensity score matching with staggered difference-in-differences estimation methods, we find that monetary incentives have a positive and short-term effect on the quantity and quality of physicians’ unpaid online contributions. Moreover, our analysis reveals that this positive impact is more pronounced and enduring among physicians in departments which are less suitable for online consultations. Concerning physician titles, the positive spillover effect is more significant for associate and junior physicians compared to chief physicians. In conclusion, our study suggests that monetary incentives are effective in stimulating physicians’ free knowledge contribution in the short term. For the long term, tailoring incentives to each department's specific characteristics can be beneficial, especially for physicians who have already established a strong online reputation.