Norm of Reciprocity, Reciprocal Benefits, and Reciprocal Relationships: A Revisit of the Role of Reciprocity in Knowledge Sharing

Reciprocity has been considered as one of the most important constructs in knowledge sharing literature. However, prior studies have defined and measured this construct in different ways, leading to mixed research findings about its role. To solve the controversy, based on prior reciprocity literature, we differentiate three relevant concepts namely norm of reciprocity, reciprocal benefits, and reciprocal relationships and propose the causal relationships between these constructs according to the norm internalization theory. A field survey with 386 employees in a Chinese organization is conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The results show that reciprocal benefits and reciprocal relationships fully mediate the impacts of norm of reciprocity on knowledge sharing intention. These findings suggest that the internalization mechanism (e.g., indirect effect) works better than the compliance mechanism (e.g., direct effect) under the voluntary knowledge sharing context. This study enriches the knowledge sharing literature and provides suggestions on organizational knowledge sharing practices.