The latest research result of Prosocial behaviors and economic performance: Evidence from an online mental healthcare platform, a key international collaborative research project led by Professor Yan Zhijun of the Department of Management Engineering, was recently published in Production and Operations Management. This study explored the effects of psychological counselors engaging in prosocial behaviors in online mental health communities on their economic performance, validating the direct and mediating effects of prosocial behaviors. The research was conducted by Professor Yan's team and Professor LiangfeiQiu from the University of Florida.

Mental illness is a huge and increasing global burden, but the relevant medical resources are extremely limited, and the emergence of online mental health services can to some extent narrow the gap between the demand and supply of mental health services. However, due to the complexity of mental illness and treatment methods, and the general lack of mental health knowledge of residents, there are serious information asymmetry problems in online mental health service transactions. Participating in prosocial activities, especially providing free services, is a common strategy adopted by online service providers, which can effectively alleviate the problem of information asymmetry.

In the online mental health service platform, on the one hand, the free service offering may erode the paid service consultation and affect the economic performance of the psychological counselors. On the other hand, free service, as a prosocial behavior, may both directly affect the economic performance of psychological counselors by indirectly affecting the relationship capital and reputation capital of psychological counselors. Based on signal theory and commitment theory, the study developed hypothetical models between prosocial behavior, relationship capital, reputation capital, and economic performance. The results show that the free offering of services has a significant comprehensive impact and a significant direct effect on the economic performance of psychological counselors. The offering of free services can increase the sales of paid counseling services by 5%.

The Production and Operations Management is one of the 24 top business school academic journals selected by the University of Texas at Dallas(UTD 24) , and it is also one of the 50 top business school academic journals rated by the Financial Times (FT50) . It enjoys a high academic reputation in the international management field. The list of UTD 24 and FT50 journals is widely recognized by various universities around the world, and it is one of the important reference conditions for the ranking of business schools / management schools.

Papers link: Yan, Z., Kuang, L., & Qiu, L.(2022).Prosocial behaviors and economic performance: Evidence from an online mental healthcare platform.Production and Operations Management, 31, 3859– 3876. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13792