資訊科技的進步帶動了人們生活方式及購物習慣的改變，大家逐漸趨於重視資產的使用權，而非永久的所有權。共享經濟的應用也因此廣泛滲入生活中，透過有形資產的共享或出租(Uber, Airbnb)或無形資產的分享(Codementor, Hub Culture)，降低閒置資源的浪費並提升資產的使用率。
過去共享經濟相關的研究多著重在有形資產的案例上，且大部分學者採用問卷調查或訪談的方式收集研究資料。這種研究方式，多使用個人主觀感知來衡量，容易有客觀性問題。有鑑於此，本研究希望能以跨國際專業知識分享的Codementor平台作為研究主軸，並透過網頁擷取技術獲得平台上導師們的實際資料作為研究樣本。
此外，信任作為共享經濟重要的促進因素之一，主要原因是網站上資訊不對稱的現象。在網路上的分享過程中，供需雙方會存在資訊不對稱的情形，過去研究認為評價系統能作為一種自我監督的方式來降低資訊不對稱，但仍可能存有偏見的產生。多數共享經濟平台並沒有規範使用者必須揭露的資訊，導師可以依照自己的喜好揭露與自己教學品質相關的訊息，來降低資訊不對稱。本研究將以信號理論作為框架，探討導師所揭露的訊息對諮詢服務成長的影響。
本研究採用網頁擷取技術取得了1698位使用者實例，直到觀察的第三個月服務次數不為0的使用者僅有612位。取得之導師揭露資訊包括評論、發文、追蹤者、外部網站教學經驗、服務次數等資料，並依信號理論分成三個維度- 信號清晰性、信號可靠性和服務成本來建立假說。透過多元迴歸分析驗證假說，結果顯示導師所揭露的網站外部資訊的影響力大於網站內部的，且單靠提供免費試用並不能有效提升服務成長。網站上社群的經營和追蹤數目前對服務成長沒有影響。
本研究結果期望能讓Codementor平台上的導師們或類似平台使用者得到啟發，並藉由研究結果提供導師們如何經營自己的個人頁面。我們建議後續研究可以利用問卷或訪談形式來更深入探討共享經濟平台上的溝通互動。

The growth of information technology has led to shifts in lifestyle and shopping habits. Consumer trends have shifted from the ownership of goods to a use right of goods. Thus, the sharing economy is widely integrated into our lives, reducing the waste of idle resources and increasing the utilization of assets through sharing or renting of tangible assets (Uber, Airbnb) and intangible assets (Codementor, Hub Culture).
Previous studies related to the sharing economy have mostly focused on the case of tangible assets. For the most part, scholars have employed questionnaires or interviews to collect data; however, the results have mainly based on personal perspectives of subjects and may not be sufficiently objective. In view of this, we have chosen an international sharing economy platform, Codementor, about which to conduct our research, gathering the research sample through web-based retrieval technology.
Trust, one of the most important factors in the sharing economy, is mainly due to the issue of asymmetric information on the internet. During the sharing process, there are asymmetries of information between the supplier and the demander. Although previous studies have suggested that a “sharing economy” reputational rating system can function as a form of self-regulation, there may still be prejudices within such a system. On peer-to-peer platforms, the information that providers need to reveal is not well defined by the policy of platform; thus, improving information disclosure may also decrease the information asymmetry problem. The current study uses signaling theory as conceptual framework to explore the impact of the information disclosure of mentors on the growth of consulting services.
Our study adopts a web scraper to retrieve 1,698 user instances on Codementor, of which there were only 612 users whose numbers of service were above zero at the end of the three-month observation. The acquired data consisted of reviews, posts, followers, numbers of service, mentoring experience at other websites, etc. In accordance with signaling theory, our research examines three dimensions: signal clarity, signal credibility, and service cost. We verify our hypotheses through multiple linear regression analysis. The results show that on the sharing economy platform, the influence of external signals is greater than that of internal signals, and offering a free trial alone cannot effectively improve service growth. Mentor participates in the community and has numerous of followers that has no effect on service delivery growth.
The results of this study are expected to inspire mentors on Codementor or users on similar platforms as to how a mentor can improve management of his or her profile. We suggest that future research can use questionnaires or interviews to further explore communication interactions on the sharing economy platform.

論文審定書 i
摘 要 ... ii
Abstract iii
Table of Contents v
List of Figures vii
List of Tables viii
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Motivation and Research Purposes 2
Chapter 2 Literature Review 5
2.1 The Sharing Economy 5
2.2 Signaling Theory 14
Chapter 3 Research Model and Hypothesis Development 18
3.1 Hypothesis Development 18
3.1.1 Signal Clarity 19
3.1.2 Signal Credibility 20
3.1.3 Service Cost 23
3.2 Research Model 24
Chapter 4 Research Methodology 26
4.1 About Codementor 26
4.1.1 Basic Background of Codementor 26
4.1.2 Codementor as an On-Demand Marketplace for Software Developers 26
4.1.3 Profile of Mentors on Codementor Platform 27
4.2 Sampling and Data Collection 30
4.2.1. Data Collection 30
4.2.2 Data Processing 34
4.3 Sample Demographics 35
4.4 Dimensions and Measurements 38
4.5 Correlation Analysis 40
Chapter 5 Results and Discussion 42
5.1 Hypothesis Testing 42
5.2 Discussion 45
Chapter 6 Conclusion and Implications 49
6.1 Conclusions 49
6.2 Academic Implications 50
6.3 Practical Implications 51
6.4 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Study 52
List of Reference 53

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