Community members are more likely to comply with a request if they have seen other people who also complied with that request (DC 12 CH2)

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

People will believe an action or outcome is valuable when they are led to believe that other people are doing it (or believe so)

Social proof

- Social desirability of requester

- Simplicity of request

- Status of requester

- Does the member like the requester (favorability)

- Social proofing

- Member interests

Factors that affect contribution requests

Kraut, Robert E., and Paul Resnick. Building successful online communities: Evidence-based social design. MIT Press, 2012.

Building successful online communities: Evidence-based social design (Kraut and Resnick)

Contribution requests and social proofing

Making simpler requests, as compared to lengthier/complex ones, leads to more compliance for decisions that do not interest members (DC5 CH2)

Contribution requests and simplicity

Requests to make contributions in online communities are complied with more often when the person who makes the request is considered a higher status member of the community (DC 9 CH2)

Contribution requests and requester status 

Contribution requests are more likely to be complied with when the requester is more socially desirable. This includes whether the requester is familiar or similar to the community members or whether he is attractive or popular (DC11 CH2)

Contribution requests and requesters' social desirability 

Community members are more likely to comply with requests when they like the person who made them (DC 10 CH2)

Contribution requests and requesters' favorability

Asking people to perform tasks that interest them and that they are able to effectively do increases contributions (DC 3 CH 2)

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