Academic community engagement on social networking sites, creative behaviour and work performance: The mediating mechanisms of knowledge sharing and relationship quality

Abstract Researchers have increasingly engaged in academic communities on social networking sites (SNSs). This study seeks to examine the impact of academic community engagement on Facebook (ACEF) on researchers’ creative behaviour and work performance, with the mediating mechanisms of relationship quality and knowledge sharing. Data were obtained from 213 researchers in an emerging country, i.e., Vietnam. Results of structural equation modelling demonstrate that ACEF indirectly influences researchers’ creative behaviour and work performance in dualistic approaches. In particular, the relationships between ACEF and work performance and between ACEF and creative behaviour are positively mediated by relationship quality. Furthermore, knowledge sharing positively mediates the ACEF-creative behaviour and relationship quality-creative behaviour links. This study is among the first to develop and validate a unique model explaining the mechanism through which ACEF impacts researchers’ work and behavioural outcomes. The findings have important implications for researchers and educational institutions in promoting academic community engagement on SNSs, which can enhance knowledge sharing, creative behaviour and work performance.