You are worth my tipping: Why do people voluntarily pay for User-Generated-Content on social media platforms?

Social media platforms have begun to widely adopt the Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) pricing model to sell User-Generated-Content (UGC). However, it is still under-explored why social media users voluntarily pay for UGC even if they can easily free-ride under PWYW conditions. In this paper, we theoretically derive and examine a model to understand users’ PWYW behaviors for UGC on social media. Drawing on social exchange theory, we treat perceived worth as the core antecedent and analyze the benefits and costs associated with users’ PWYW behaviors. In addition, we also propose that users’ PWYW experience and social endorsement are important contextual factors and examine their roles in shaping users’ PWYW decisions. To test the research model, we conducted an online survey study, and the results revealed two major findings. First, social media users mainly value the reciprocity for product and pleasure brought by PWYW behaviors but are also concerned about the perceived opportunity cost and inconvenience of e-payment process, based on which they form perceived worth that further determines their PWYW frequency. Second, social media users’ PWYW experience and social endorsement also influence their PWYW frequency, and the effects are partially and fully mediated by perceived worth, respectively. Our research reveals the crucial factors that motivate social media users’ PWYW engagement in UGC consumption and lays the foundation for future theoretical research and practical work.