{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T23:13:16Z","timestamp":1775776396845,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":66,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]],"date-time":"2020-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1600214400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IMDS"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact factors that might influence audiences' voluntary donation to content creators on the online platforms, and to build an effective prediction model by considering both content and creator-related features.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study collected the real-world data of content consumption from Xueqiu.com and extracted both content and creator characteristics from the data set. The best donation prediction model based on such features was determined by evaluating four prevalent classifiers with various performance metrics. Furthermore, three feature selection methods were applied to validate the robustness of the constructed model, and then the predictability of different feature groups was examined. Finally, we conducted an interpretive analysis to identify relatively important predictors.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The experimental results show that the random classifier with all extracted features outperformed other built models and achieved excellent performance, indicating the usefulness of these factors in predicting the donations. Moreover, the predictability of content features was demonstrated to be relatively better than that of creator ones. Finally, several particularly important predictors were identified such as the number of modal particles in the article.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study is among the first to investigate what factors might drive customers' voluntary donation to content contributors on social websites. Different from previous studies focusing on live video streaming, we expand the research vision by examining the donations to user-generated text content, calling for attention to other important topics in the burgeoning industry.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/imds-02-2020-0111","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,15]],"date-time":"2020-09-15T23:05:58Z","timestamp":1600211158000},"page":"1941-1957","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Predicting the voluntary donation to online content creators"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"120","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6611-759X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Futao","family":"Zhao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Zhong","family":"Yao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"2019","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref001","first-page":"72","article-title":"Social media for knowledge-sharing: a systematic literature review","volume":"37","year":"2019","journal-title":"Telematics and Informatics"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref002","first-page":"25","article-title":"Understanding video-ad consumption on YouTube: a measurement study on user behavior, popularity, and content properties","year":"2016"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/S0167-7012(00)00201-3","article-title":"Artificial neural networks: fundamentals, computing, design, and application","volume":"43","year":"2000","journal-title":"Journal of Microbiological Methods"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"537","DOI":"10.1109\/72.298224","article-title":"Using mutual information for selecting features in supervised neural net learning","volume":"5","year":"1994","journal-title":"IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1080\/07421222.2015.1095038","article-title":"It is not just about competition with \u201cFree\u201d: differences between content formats in consumer preferences and willingness to pay","volume":"32","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Management Information Systems"},{"issue":"2017","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref006","first-page":"233","article-title":"Producing a worthy illness: personal crowdfunding amidst financial crisis","volume":"187","year":"2017","journal-title":"Social Science and Medicine"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"499","DOI":"10.1080\/17512786.2014.895519","article-title":"Paid content: a successful revenue model for publishing houses in Germany?","volume":"8","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journalism Practice"},{"issue":"3-4","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"466","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jebo.2007.10.006","article-title":"Trust and gender: an examination of behavior and beliefs in the Investment Game","volume":"68","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref009","first-page":"25","article-title":"Paying for live broadcast: predicting internet knowledge product sharing","year":"2018"},{"issue":"2002","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref010","first-page":"321","article-title":"SMOTE: synthetic minority over-sampling technique","volume":"16","year":"2002","journal-title":"Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref011","first-page":"40","article-title":"Purchase intention in live-streaming context-A self-presentation perspective","year":"2019"},{"issue":"2017","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref012","first-page":"501","article-title":"Analyzing review efficacy on Amazon.com: does the rich grow richer?","volume":"75","year":"2017","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327736me1802_4","article-title":"Willingness to pay for online news: an empirical study on the viability of the subscription model","volume":"18","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of Media Economics"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1080\/14241277.2012.657284","article-title":"Paying for what? How much? And why (not)? Predictors of paying intent for multiplatform newspapers","volume":"14","year":"2012","journal-title":"International Journal on Media Management"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"719","DOI":"10.1177\/1367877919834942","article-title":"China's livestreaming industry: platforms, politics, and precarity","volume":"22","year":"2019","journal-title":"International Journal of Cultural Studies"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1080\/15252019.2008.10722139","article-title":"Exploring consumer motivations for creating user-generated content","volume":"8","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Interactive Advertising"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1017\/S0021849904040358","article-title":"Will internet users pay for online content?","volume":"44","year":"2004","journal-title":"Journal of Advertising Research"},{"issue":"5870","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1687","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1150952","article-title":"Spending money on others promotes happiness","volume":"319","year":"2008","journal-title":"Science"},{"issue":"2018","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref019","first-page":"32","article-title":"Which online reviews do consumers find most helpful? A multi-method investigation","volume":"113","year":"2018","journal-title":"Decision Support Systems"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.2753\/MIS0742-1222310207","article-title":"Gifting and status in virtual worlds","volume":"31","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journal of Management Information Systems"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"742","DOI":"10.1080\/17512786.2014.882056","article-title":"An empirical study of factors that influence the willingness to pay for online news","volume":"8","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journalism Practice"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref022","volume-title":"A Guide to Chi-Squared Testing","year":"1996"},{"issue":"2018","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref023","first-page":"58","article-title":"Social motivations of live-streaming viewer engagement on Twitch","volume":"84","year":"2018","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref024","first-page":"278","article-title":"Random decision forests","year":"1995"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref025","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1108\/INTR-04-2018-0177","article-title":"Factors influencing people's continuous watching intention and consumption intention in live streaming: evidence from China","volume":"30","year":"2019","journal-title":"Internet Research"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"929","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijinfomgt.2016.06.003","article-title":"Predicting hotel review helpfulness: the impact of review visibility, and interaction between hotel stars and review ratings","volume":"36","year":"2016","journal-title":"International Journal of Information Management"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"728","DOI":"10.1016\/j.im.2016.12.009","article-title":"The effect of user-controllable filters on the prediction of online hotel reviews","volume":"54","year":"2017","journal-title":"Information and Management"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"128","DOI":"10.1177\/00220345860650020701","article-title":"Percent agreement, Pearson's correlation, and kappa as measures of inter-examiner reliability","volume":"65","year":"1986","journal-title":"Journal of Dental Research"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref029","first-page":"1055","article-title":"User donations in a crowdsourced video system","year":"2019"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1080\/16522354.2015.1053345","article-title":"The free-to-fee transition: audiences' attitudes toward paying for online news","volume":"12","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Media Business Studies"},{"issue":"2017","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref031","first-page":"236","article-title":"Social media engagement: what motivates user participation and consumption on YouTube?","volume":"66","year":"2017","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1232","DOI":"10.1287\/isre.1110.0411","article-title":"What motivates people to purchase digital items on virtual community websites? The desire for online self-presentation","volume":"23","year":"2012","journal-title":"Information Systems Research"},{"issue":"2019","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref034","first-page":"101286","article-title":"They pay for a reason! the determinants of fan's instant sponsorship for content creators","volume":"45","year":"2019","journal-title":"Telematics and Informatics"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref033","first-page":"LBW533","article-title":"Tip me!: tipping is changing social interactions on live streams in China","year":"2018"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref035","first-page":"281","article-title":"From free to fee: exploring the antecedents of consumer intention to switch to paid online content","volume":"15","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journal of Electronic Commerce Research"},{"issue":"2017","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref036","first-page":"174","article-title":"Research on the influencing factors of user's online knowledge consumption behavior","volume":"122","year":"2017","journal-title":"Procedia computer science"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref037","first-page":"239","article-title":"What drives people to purchase virtual gifts in live streaming? The mediating role of flow","year":"2018"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref038","first-page":"501","article-title":"Examining gifting on social live streaming services: an identity investment perspective","year":"2019","journal-title":"PACIS 2019 Proceedings"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref039","first-page":"58","article-title":"Research on the influencing factors of the willingness to pay forknowledge consumers in the knowledge payment platform","year":"2018"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref040","first-page":"221","article-title":"Motivating user-generated content contribution with voluntary donation to content creators","year":"2019"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref041","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"203","DOI":"10.2753\/MIS0742-1222230209","article-title":"Consumer perceptions and willingness to pay for intrinsically motivated online content","volume":"23","year":"2006","journal-title":"Journal of Management Information Systems"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref042","first-page":"466","article-title":"You watch, you give, and you engage: a study of live streaming practices in China","year":"2018"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref043","first-page":"4765","article-title":"A unified approach to interpreting model predictions","year":"2017"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref044","first-page":"228","article-title":"User generated content consumption and social networking in knowledge-sharing OSNs","year":"2010"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref045","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.1016\/j.im.2014.02.004","article-title":"Exploring neuroticism and extraversion in flow and user generated content consumption","volume":"51","year":"2014","journal-title":"Information and Management"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref046","first-page":"9","article-title":"\u2018Paying for content or paying for community?\u2019 The effect of social involvement on subscribing to media web sites","year":"2009"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref047","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.25300\/MISQ\/2016\/40.1.02","article-title":"Free versus for-a-fee: the impact of a paywall on the pattern and effectiveness of word-of-mouth via social media","volume":"40","year":"2016","journal-title":"MIS Quarterly"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref048","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1108\/IJCS-01-2019-0007","article-title":"Knowledge payment research: status quo and key issues","volume":"3","year":"2019","journal-title":"International Journal of Crowd Science"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref049","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1023\/B:AMAI.0000018580.96245.c6","article-title":"Theoretical comparison between the gini index and information gain criteria","volume":"41","year":"2004","journal-title":"Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref050","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"660","DOI":"10.1109\/21.97458","article-title":"A survey of decision tree classifier methodology","volume":"21","year":"1991","journal-title":"IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics"},{"issue":"19","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref051","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5420","DOI":"10.3390\/su11195420","article-title":"Understanding consumers' purchase intention for online paid knowledge: a customer value perspective","volume":"11","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sustainability"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref052","first-page":"272","article-title":"Dynamic optimal pricing strategies for knowledge-sharing platforms","year":"2018"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref053","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1287\/isre.1100.0339","article-title":"Social networks and the diffusion of user-generated content: evidence from YouTube","volume":"23","year":"2012","journal-title":"Information Systems Research"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref054","first-page":"118","article-title":"Who is earning? Understanding and modeling the virtual gifts behavior of users in live streaming economy","year":"2018"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref055","volume-title":"The Nature of Statistical Learning Theory","year":"2013"},{"issue":"7","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref056","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"837","DOI":"10.1016\/j.im.2016.12.007","article-title":"How attachment influences users' willingness to donate to content creators in social media: a socio-technical systems perspective","volume":"54","year":"2017","journal-title":"Information and Management"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref057","first-page":"304","article-title":"Subscription to fee-based online services: what makes consumer pay for online content?","volume":"6","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of Electronic Commerce Research"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref058","unstructured":"Weibo, S. (2016), \u201cUser development report of Sina Weiboin 2016\u201d, available at: https:\/\/www.docin.com\/p-2041859092.html (accessed 21 February 2020).."},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref059","first-page":"474","article-title":"Explaining viewers' emotional, instrumental, and financial support provision for live streamers","year":"2018"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref060","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1450","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tele.2018.03.014","article-title":"Impact of viewer engagement on gift-giving in live video streaming","volume":"35","year":"2018","journal-title":"Telematics and Informatics"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref061","unstructured":"YY Inc (2019), \u201cYY reports third quarter 2019 unaudited financial results\u201d, available at: http:\/\/ir.yy.com\/news-releases\/news-release-details\/yy-reports-third-quarter-2019-unaudited-financial-results (accessed 21 February 2020)."},{"issue":"7","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref062","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1302","DOI":"10.1108\/OIR-05-2018-0169","article-title":"Why pay? An empirical study of paid-for SQA sites in China","volume":"43","year":"2019","journal-title":"Online Information Review"},{"issue":"2019","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref063","first-page":"113140","article-title":"From free to paid: customer expertise and customer satisfaction on knowledge payment platforms","volume":"127","year":"2019","journal-title":"Decision Support Systems"},{"issue":"2018","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref064","first-page":"1","article-title":"How knowledge contributor characteristics and reputation affect user payment decision in paid Q&A? An empirical analysis from the perspective of trust theory","volume":"31","year":"2018","journal-title":"Electronic Commerce Research and Applications"},{"issue":"2019","key":"key2020101902274217600_ref065","first-page":"100815","article-title":"The magic of danmaku: a social interaction perspective of gift sending on live streaming platforms","volume":"34","year":"2019","journal-title":"Electronic Commerce Research and Applications"},{"key":"key2020101902274217600_ref066","first-page":"274","article-title":"Understanding the gift-sending interaction on live-streaming video websites","year":"2017"}],"container-title":["Industrial Management &amp; Data Systems"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/IMDS-02-2020-0111\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/IMDS-02-2020-0111\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T21:51:20Z","timestamp":1753393880000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/imds\/article\/120\/10\/1941-1957\/510847"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]]},"references-count":66,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/IMDS-02-2020-0111"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/imds-02-2020-0111","relation":{},"ISSN":["0263-5577"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0263-5577","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]]}}}