Enhancing consumer satisfaction in the online knowledge payment context: the effects of warmth and competence

Maintaining consumer satisfaction is crucial for the online knowledge payment industry. However, the roles of knowledge contributors in generating consumer satisfaction are not well understood. This study integrates the stereotype content model and social exchange theory to investigate the relationships between contributor stereotypes and consumer satisfaction, as well as the mediating mechanisms and moderating factors. The survey data was collected from 523 Chinese knowledge consumers via a professional survey platform and analysed by combining partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The PLS-SEM findings indicate that both warmth and competence of knowledge contributors positively affect consumer satisfaction, and emotional value has a stronger mediating effect in the impact of contributor warmth, whereas functional value has a stronger mediating effect in the impact of contributor competence. Moreover, the effects of contributor warmth and competence are moderated by consumer gender and motivation, and contributor warmth (vs. competence) is more important for females and consumers with hedonic-dominant motivation, while contributor competence (vs. warmth) is more important for males and consumers with utilitarian-dominant motivation. The fsQCA results reinforce the findings from SEM analysis and provide additional insights regarding the configurations of conditions leading to high consumer satisfaction.