Sustainability of creator platforms

Abstract

Since the beginning of the $21^{st}$ century, the biggest change is the possibility that anyone with a creative idea can become a creator of innovation. Anyone can find the information they need on the Internet, and people with similar interests can build communities to share knowledge and collaborate. In the past, the fields of manufacturing and broadcasting were limited to professionals and companies

however, the spread of the Internet and commoditization of technology has now made these areas accessible to anyone. If someone has an idea, he/she can implement it in its actual shape using a 3-D printer and finance it through crowdfunding for commercialization. Without any technical skills or equipment, anyone can broadcast in real-time anywhere using a smartphone. This study refers to individuals who make or invent as creators. It investigates issues pertaining to the sustainability of creator platforms supporting the activities of creators, namely makerspaces and streaming platforms. A creator platform provides resources that allows anyone to create and share, and facilitates exchanges between two or more interdependent groups. Makerspaces provide spaces, equipment, and technical training programs for creators to make prototypes and support community activities for knowledge sharing and collaboration among users. Makerspaces have received attention as venues for entrepreneurship and innovation, and are increasing in number worldwide. Streaming platforms provide a real-time broadcasting environment in which viewers can participate, enabling creators to interact with viewers through live chat while broadcasting. With the popularity of various creators, the number of streaming platform users is growing rapidly. For example, on Twitch, a streaming platform for gamers, 15 million visitors gather daily, and more than 2 million creators broadcast each month. While spending significant resources on supporting creators, the business model of makerspaces and streaming platforms ensure their sustainability. The main revenue model for makerspaces is based on user fees. From the viewpoint of the user, they save costs by renting the necessary manufacturing equipment and space when needed. The main revenue model of streaming platforms is based on viewers’ contributions to the creators. Some of these contributions are distributed to streaming platforms. In the case of Twitch, viewers can make contributions to creators through a paid subscription and donations. The sustainability of makerspaces and streaming platforms is largely dependent on these revenue models. However, makerspaces have difficulties in reducing revenues, because of the challenges in maintaining individual memberships. Furthermore, streaming platforms face more intense competition for donation sponsorship as more platforms including YouTube start enabling viewer donations and as more creators want to earn income by receiving these donations. However, to our knowledge, few studies have examined the sustainability of makerspaces and streaming platforms. Thus, based on motivation theory and self-determination theory (SDT), this dissertation identifies the factors that influence the continuance intention of using makerspaces and donating on streaming platforms. The first study addresses the sustainability of makerspaces by enhancing understanding of the factors that influence makerspace continuance intention. According to SDT, when the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met, intrinsic motivation can intensify and affect the choice of behavior. This study assumes that the technical, economic, and social support of makerspaces satisfy basic psychological needs and enhance intrinsic motivation, namely the enjoyment of using makerspaces. The research model was verified by analyzing data from 121 South Korean makerspace users. The results indicated that environmental support for the makerspace satisfied all three basic psychological needs suggested by SDT, and economic support greatly influenced autonomy and competence. Among the basic needs, competence had the greatest influence on intrinsic motivation, which affects the continuance intention to use makerspaces. This study demonstrates that the supporting environment of makerspaces is strongly related to the satisfaction of basic needs, as proposed by SDT. A study on users’ psychological needs and motivations is required before supplementing the environmental support of makerspaces to increase continuance intention. The second study identified factors that influence donation intention on streaming platforms and provides suggestions to promote viewer donations. In this study, we developed and tested our framework in the context of Twitch, which enables viewers to make donations. On Twitch, creators can broadcast their gameplay in real time, and viewers can donate to creators while chatting with them or other viewers. Donor motivation is categorized as intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. In this study, the joy of giving was selected as an intrinsic motivation. Reciprocity, or mutual indebtedness, was selected as extrinsic motivation. Viewers may want to continue donating to reciprocate the benefits they receive from creators, such as vicarious achievement and learning. In addition, they may continue making donations to receive reciprocity in exchange for the donation, such as recognition from the creator and other viewers. The research model was examined by analyzing data collected from 330 residents of the USA who have experience in donating on Twitch. The results indicate that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influence the continuance intention to donate. A significant gender difference in donation motivation was found. In the case of male donors, the joy of giving, vicarious achievement, and recognition from other viewers significantly influenced continuance intention. In the case of female donors, recognition from creators and other viewers significantly affected this intention. Specifically, the impact of recognition from creators was higher on females than on males. The strong impact of recognition from other viewers suggests the importance of the environmental characteristics of streaming platforms, which reveal viewers’ donations to all in real time. Practitioners must prepare a marketing strategy to vitalize viewers’ donations considering not only the relationship between viewers and donors, but also the triadic relationship between viewers, donors, and other viewers. This dissertation examines the sustainability of creator platforms by understanding the factors that influence the continuance intention to use makerspaces and make donations on streaming platforms. Conceptual frameworks were proposed and empirically tested based on motivation theory and SDT. The research results showed that continuance intentions are closely related with the unique characteristics of each platform. Therefore, each platform needs to establish a sustainability strategy to improve the current platform environment based on an understanding of users’ psychological motivation. This study has academic implications in that it applied motivation theory and SDT to new phenomena and empirically verified them. It is expected that the proposed research models will be extended in future studies on similar platforms.