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THE CURSE OF EXPERIENCE IN CREATIVE CROWDSOURCING CONTESTS AND CONTEST SEARCHES AS A REMEDY.

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Title: THE CURSE OF EXPERIENCE IN CREATIVE CROWDSOURCING CONTESTS AND CONTEST SEARCHES AS A REMEDY.
Authors: Jin, Yuan (AUTHOR) yuan.jin@ttu.edu, Lee, Ho Cheung Brian (AUTHOR) brian.lee@psu.edu, Li, Xinxin (AUTHOR) xinxin.li@uconn.edu
Source: MIS Quarterly. Mar2026, Vol. 50 Issue 1, p351-378. 28p. 11 Charts.
Subject Terms: *Crowdsourcing, *Information-seeking behavior, Experience, Contests, Creative ability, Inspiration, Information-seeking strategies
Abstract: In creative crowdsourcing contests that seek novel ideas and solutions, experience can help solvers use relevant knowledge to generate solutions, but may also cause solvers to fixate on familiar solution paths, which we call the "curse of experience." This study examines how experience affects solvers' performance in such contests and how contest searches (searching descriptive information about other contests), as a type of external information-seeking activity, moderate the effects of experience. Our analyses show that both the benefit and the curse of experience coexist. Solvers' experience contributes to a higher likelihood of generating acceptable submissions (solutions meeting basic quality standards) but reduces the chance of creating winning solutions (extreme-value solutions selected as contest winners). Contest searches prior to participation in a contest provide solvers with contest choices, strengthening the beneficial effects of experience on creating both acceptable and winning solutions. Contest searches that occur during participation in a contest, although potentially triggering an overload effect that decreases the beneficial effect of experience on solution acceptance, also bring new ideas and inspiration to solvers' solution search processes, reducing the impedimental effect of experience on creating winning solutions. Searches of contests that differ in skill or context from the focal contest are beneficial for both prior and parallel contest search processes but are not always fully utilized by solvers. These findings delineate a comprehensive picture of how contest search activities can remedy the curse of experience and inform the effective design and use of search features for crowdsourcing platforms and solution seekers to help improve solvers' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of MIS Quarterly is the property of MIS Quarterly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: THE CURSE OF EXPERIENCE IN CREATIVE CROWDSOURCING CONTESTS AND CONTEST SEARCHES AS A REMEDY.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jin%2C+Yuan%22">Jin, Yuan</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<i> yuan.jin@ttu.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lee%2C+Ho+Cheung+Brian%22">Lee, Ho Cheung Brian</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<i> brian.lee@psu.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Li%2C+Xinxin%22">Li, Xinxin</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<i> xinxin.li@uconn.edu</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22MIS+Quarterly%22">MIS Quarterly</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 50 Issue 1, p351-378. 28p. 11 Charts.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Crowdsourcing%22">Crowdsourcing</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Information-seeking+behavior%22">Information-seeking behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Experience%22">Experience</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Contests%22">Contests</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Creative+ability%22">Creative ability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Inspiration%22">Inspiration</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Information-seeking+strategies%22">Information-seeking strategies</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: In creative crowdsourcing contests that seek novel ideas and solutions, experience can help solvers use relevant knowledge to generate solutions, but may also cause solvers to fixate on familiar solution paths, which we call the "curse of experience." This study examines how experience affects solvers' performance in such contests and how contest searches (searching descriptive information about other contests), as a type of external information-seeking activity, moderate the effects of experience. Our analyses show that both the benefit and the curse of experience coexist. Solvers' experience contributes to a higher likelihood of generating acceptable submissions (solutions meeting basic quality standards) but reduces the chance of creating winning solutions (extreme-value solutions selected as contest winners). Contest searches prior to participation in a contest provide solvers with contest choices, strengthening the beneficial effects of experience on creating both acceptable and winning solutions. Contest searches that occur during participation in a contest, although potentially triggering an overload effect that decreases the beneficial effect of experience on solution acceptance, also bring new ideas and inspiration to solvers' solution search processes, reducing the impedimental effect of experience on creating winning solutions. Searches of contests that differ in skill or context from the focal contest are beneficial for both prior and parallel contest search processes but are not always fully utilized by solvers. These findings delineate a comprehensive picture of how contest search activities can remedy the curse of experience and inform the effective design and use of search features for crowdsourcing platforms and solution seekers to help improve solvers' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of MIS Quarterly is the property of MIS Quarterly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.25300/MISQ/2025/17751
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 28
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      – SubjectFull: Crowdsourcing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Information-seeking behavior
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Experience
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Contests
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Creative ability
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      – SubjectFull: Inspiration
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      – SubjectFull: Information-seeking strategies
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: THE CURSE OF EXPERIENCE IN CREATIVE CROWDSOURCING CONTESTS AND CONTEST SEARCHES AS A REMEDY.
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            NameFull: Jin, Yuan
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            NameFull: Lee, Ho Cheung Brian
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              Text: Mar2026
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              Y: 2026
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