Sustained Participation in Open Source Software Project Communities

Sustained participation is critical for the viability of open source software (OSS) project communities (OSSPCs), and this paper explores how sustained participation is maintained in viable OSSPCs. With the lens of the integrative model of trust (IMoT), hypotheses regarding interactions between trust and community citizenship behaviors (CCBs - as OSSPC participating activities) are developed. Both a qualitative study and a quantitative study are conducted, and data analysis confirms both the Trust -> CCBs and the CCBs -> Trust hypotheses along the time dimension, revealing CCBs-Trust interactions as a mechanism for maintaining sustained community participation. Further, while it is found that CCBs have an accumulative overall positive impact on trust, alternating positive and negative impacts of CCBs on trust over time are identified. In addition, a delayed impact is also identified in the Trust -> CCBs relationship. These findings are explained from several theoretical perspectives, which provide directions for future research and help community management to maintain sustained participation.