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International Journal of Crowd Science 2020, 4(3): 255-271 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCS-11-2019-0035
Research paper | Open Access | Issue | Published: 06 July 2020

Analysis of sponsorship networks and cross-domain knowledge exchange: an empirical study on Zhihu

Show Author's Information Tuotuo Qi,  Tianmei Wang( ),  Nuo Chen
School of Information, The Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China
Keywords:
Cross-domain, Zhihu Lives, Sponsorship network, Knowledge exchange
Cite this article:
Qi T, Wang T, Chen N. Analysis of sponsorship networks and cross-domain knowledge exchange: an empirical study on Zhihu. International Journal of Crowd Science, 2020, 4(3): 255-271. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCS-11-2019-0035
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Abstract Full text About this article
Purpose

This study aims to analyze the structural characteristics of knowledge exchange in Zhihu Lives to provide feasible suggestions for improving the creative enthusiasm of knowledge providers.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses the domain classification of Zhihu Lives to construct a cross-domain knowledge exchange network.

Findings

This research makes the following findings: the small-world effect exists in the sponsorship network and is conducive to enhancing the learning willingness of knowledge providers; significant sponsorships and strong learning willingness exist among knowledge providers; the knowledge exchange is obvious among the fields of education, reading and writing, business and lifestyle and the fields of music, film, games, art, the internet, science and technology, design, financial economy and occupation; and knowledge exchange is obvious among the internal fields of education, reading and writing, and business and life style, between the internal fields of music, film, and games and art and between the internal fields of the internet, science and technology, design, financial economy and occupation.

Originality/value

This study can provide practical suggestions for the following development of the platform by analyzing the special phenomenon of knowledge exchange in the present stage of knowledge exchange.


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Abstract
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About this article

Analysis of sponsorship networks and cross-domain knowledge exchange: an empirical study on Zhihu

Show Author's information Tuotuo Qi, Tianmei Wang( ), Nuo Chen
School of Information, The Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the structural characteristics of knowledge exchange in Zhihu Lives to provide feasible suggestions for improving the creative enthusiasm of knowledge providers.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses the domain classification of Zhihu Lives to construct a cross-domain knowledge exchange network.

Findings

This research makes the following findings: the small-world effect exists in the sponsorship network and is conducive to enhancing the learning willingness of knowledge providers; significant sponsorships and strong learning willingness exist among knowledge providers; the knowledge exchange is obvious among the fields of education, reading and writing, business and lifestyle and the fields of music, film, games, art, the internet, science and technology, design, financial economy and occupation; and knowledge exchange is obvious among the internal fields of education, reading and writing, and business and life style, between the internal fields of music, film, and games and art and between the internal fields of the internet, science and technology, design, financial economy and occupation.

Originality/value

This study can provide practical suggestions for the following development of the platform by analyzing the special phenomenon of knowledge exchange in the present stage of knowledge exchange.

Keywords: Cross-domain, Zhihu Lives, Sponsorship network, Knowledge exchange

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 27 November 2019
Revised: 18 March 2020
Accepted: 19 March 2020
Published: 06 July 2020
Issue date: September 2020

Copyright

© The author(s)

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan of China: Research on Fundamental Theories and Methods of Crowd Science (2017YFB1400100) and the Research Base Project of Beijing Social Science Foundation: Research on the Mechanism and Effectiveness of Public Network Participation in Public Decision-Making (18JDGLB020).

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Tuotuo Qi, Tianmei Wang and Nuo Chen. Published in International Journal of Crowd Science. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

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