**2. Method and data**

#### **2.1 The case: Adult fan of LEGO**

To answer the research question, in-depth interviews with the knowledge-sharing contributors were conducted. The interviewees were sourced from LEGO users who share their original creations. The LEGO Group, one of the world's largest toy manufacturers, was founded in 1932. The brick in its present form was launched in 1958 and has attracted people for over 60 years. LEGO has a lot of adult fans across the world who call themselves AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO). The LEGO Group has collaborated with these users with novel ideas for decades and much research has revealed the competitive advantages of this collaboration (e.g. [22–26]). Antorini, Muñiz and Askildsen [11] pointed out that the relationship among community members is the strongest motivation for contributors to co-creation with LEGO.

Co-creation among LEGO and its users varies from new product development to programming. Furthermore, users frequently share ideas, some of which are quite new beyond the brand's intention. This research examines how such knowledge sharing affects contributors themselves. This research distinguishes itself from previous research mainly in two aspects. First, this research observes changes in contributors not one specific point but over time. Second, this research shed light to not firms but contributors.

#### **2.2 Sample and data**

The interview respondents were selected using the following criteria: who share the idea related to LEGO with other people in some form. The interviews reached

theoretical saturation with ten respondents. The primary respondent activity was sorted into three groups as follows.


Their activities were user-generated beyond the firm's original aim. Group A especially, as they go out of their homes with LEGO blocks and/or mini-figures, and enjoy sharing with other people through SNS. These activities were not expected by the firm; however, they have become worldwide trends among LEGO users.

The one-to-one semi-structured interviews covered the beginning of LEGO, current occasion to use, purchase situations, and the relationship with the user community and the firm. The interviews were conducted between September 2020 and February 2021, and each interview lasted 30–120 min (average 59 min).

#### **2.3 Analysis**

To structurally understand chronological changes in the respondents, the data were analyzed using the Grounded theory approach (GTA) [27]. In line with other marketing research (e.g., [28–30]), this chapter follows the Strauss approach (e.g. [31]). All interviews were transcribed and applied the scheme of open, axial coding converging into theory as follows [32]:


The data were analyzed (first and second steps) after each interview, and data collecting and analysis were continued until reaching theoretical saturation. The concepts in open coding were based on the actual language respondents used. Then, the concepts were grouped into categories based on theoretical abstracts in axial coding. For analyst triangulation, the coding results were reviewed by the marketing researcher and two of the interview respondents; and the theory was constructed objectively via the reviewers' feedback. Finally, the categories were referred to PERMA [16] to observe the relationship between knowledge sharing and well-being.

#### **3. Results**

#### **3.1 Seven categories extracted from GTA analysis**

Through the process of coding, 22 first-order categories were distilled from 67 concepts and consequently converged into the seven second-order categories *Why Knowledge Sharing Increases Well-Being – The Case of Adult Fans of LEGO DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104556*

ending with the two core categories below (**Table 1**). The results are described below for each second-order category.



**Table 1.** *GTA results.* In contrast to their childhood, they purchased LEGO blocks by themselves and found plenty of product lines that were new to them. Furthermore, they enjoyed posting their creations on SNS, a novel experience since their childhood.

*"When I introduced my creation on YouTube, overseas people visited my channel."*

*"I posted my creations to Twitter and also saw others' creations. Then, I began communicating with other LEGO users."*

**C. Absorption in LEGO.** When getting back into LEGO, the respondents were first absorbed in creating. Each of them had something to express through LEGO, which they felt was an extension of their body and a method for expression.

*"When I am deeply moved by something, such as a movie or music, I'd like to express it. LEGO is one option to do so."*

They found themselves spending a lot of time and money as the product lines fired up their enthusiasm for collecting.

*"I want more of these parts, also those transparent ones, it has become like a collection. I felt it's dangerous, but I really like LEGO."*

**D. Satisfaction of intellectual curiosities.** The respondents experienced the advantages of LEGO which increased their creativity; they could repeat trial and error. The simplicity of combining the blocks provided equal opportunities for competition.

*"It is not dependent on cutting or pasting, painting or gluing skills, thus it only depends on ideas; how to express them. Even adults and children can compete equally. That's very interesting."*

Moreover, the restrictive regulations of colors and shapes promoted their creativity. The author found that AFOLs usually purchase sets to collect parts necessary for their creations. In other words, they do not follow the official instructions but made original creations using blocks collected from various sources. Furthermore, each respondent is a specialist in a field of their LEGO creations, for example, graphic design or photography. Their LEGO creations inspired them with their specialties, and they recognized this synergy.

*"While enjoying LEGO, I also enjoy designing!"*

**E. Goal setting and hardships reaching achievements.** Each respondent has a theme and ideal for their creations. They take advantage of their own strengths to pursue originality.

*"My work affords me opportunities to travel, so I thought I could create my own worldview using Instagram… if I simply do the same as others, my work would remain in obscurity."*

Though they aim to entertain others in addition to their own enjoyment, they face some hardships. First, realizing their ideas is not only fun but quite challenging. Furthermore, all respondents mentioned the high cost of LEGO. Some

*Why Knowledge Sharing Increases Well-Being – The Case of Adult Fans of LEGO DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104556*

respondents do not purchase official sets, but individual authentic blocks from overseas through unofficial channels, which needs know-how.

*"The transactions are all in English. Troubles sometimes happen due to consumerto-consumer business. It needs experience and know-how. It is difficult for non-fans to understand the proper process and the motivation."*

**F. Deepening of knowledge and experiences via competitive co-creation (core category).** AFOLs collaborate to enhance the quality of their creations and even share information about how to acquire certain blocks. They show their creations and provide feedback to each other, which motivates them and accelerates future creations.

*"The events are like exhibitions and people bring their creations. We show our best creations, praise each other, and improve ourselves through friendly rivalry."*

Experiencing success in contests or recognizing well-known people in their community enthused the respondents to further create.

Importantly, the LEGO group assists those collaborative relationships. The firm officially recognizes such user communities worldwide as LEGO User Group (LUG). While LUGs contribute to diffusing LEGO, the firm supports its activities. Some respondents belong to LUGs and have indirect collaborative relationships with the firm, whereas some are more directly related to the firm such as by collaborating in new product development.

In summary, AFOLs compete with each other in creating, and such competition increases their motivation. Thus their relationships are co-creative overall. The balance between competition and co-creation enriches the respondents' knowledge and experiences. Furthermore, it broadens their opportunities beyond LEGO creations.

*"I started to like photos related to LEGO, then decided to major in photography in university. Now I'm interested in cameras and want to make a living shooting photos."*

**G. Passing on knowledge and experience to the next generation (core category).** The respondents eventually received job requests from outside their communities as a result of their LEGO creations. These jobs were not only for additional LEGO creations, but also for writing books about LEGO, lecturing at LEGO schools for children, and so on. The job requests were from both LEGO itself and third parties, from both inside and outside of Japan. Some respondents accepted those jobs as an extension of their hobby, while others did so as a side business. Furthermore, such jobs became the main source of income for some respondents.

*"Recently, job requests related to LEGO have increased and even become my primary source of income."*

As a hobby or as a source of income, the respondents commonly expanded their fields through LEGO activities and expanded their connection to society.

Moreover, some respondents eagerly passed on their experiences, which was deeply satisfying. Particularly, they were passionate about developing children's creativities and tried to do so by holding events, establishing websites, and so on.

*"I want children to enjoy creating as I did in my childhood. And I'd like to escalate that exciting feeling within them. That is why I held a LEGO creation contest."*

#### *Psychosocial, Educational, and Economic Impacts of COVID-19*

**Figure 1.** *The flow of knowledge sharing.*

Referring to their beliefs, they tended to be unsatisfied with current product lines and contemporary trends in society which spoils children's creativity.

*"Children today don't repeat building and destroying. They don't make an airplane from a 'police station' set, but simply purchase an 'airplane' set."*

#### **3.2 Matching for the PERMA model**

The author finally matched the first-order categories to the PERMA model [16], where appropriate, to observe undergoing changes in the respondents (**Table 1**). The respondents started their experience with a 'positive emotion,' such as fun, then fell into absorption ('engagement'). Then, they recognized the meaning of investing their cultivated knowledge into their creations and their ideals ('meaning'). In the process of achieving their goals, they shared their knowledge with their peers ('relationship') and felt a sense of 'accomplishment' via competition and recognition. Finally, most were motivated to be altruistic (higher level of 'meaning') in the form of knowledge flow to the next generation. Four of the categories do not match PERMA elements but influenced the PERMA outcome. For example, experience in childhood includes unsatisfied feelings but it increases the respondents' absorption in adulthood.

#### **3.3 Findings**

As a result, it was proven that the flow of knowledge sharing is circular while increasing contributors well-being (**Figure 1**). The respondents had accumulated knowledge and experience with LEGO since their childhood (A). They then found a renewed attraction to LEGO and became reabsorbed in it in their adulthood (B&C). They enjoyed applying their non-LEGO knowledge to their LEGO creations and realizing that it was developing their creativity (D). Sooner after, they each set their own goal which represented their ideal, but there were obstacles (E). To overcome those obstacles, they developed their skills and ideas by collaborating with other users, sometimes competing with them, which resulted in a deepening of their knowledge and experience (F). After reaching their achievements, most respondents were motivated to pass on their experiences to the next generation.

#### **4. Conclusions and implications**

This study concludes that the reason for knowledge sharing increases contributors well-being is that it further deepens their knowledge and experience. The respondents could further deepen their previously accumulated knowledge and experience with LEGO creation through competitive co-creation with others.

*Why Knowledge Sharing Increases Well-Being – The Case of Adult Fans of LEGO DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104556*

Moreover, regardless of their initial goals, they converged into the broader goal of knowledge flow to the next generation which, importantly, contributes to the realization of sustainability in knowledge development.

This study demonstrates the importance of competitive co-creation with individuals utilizing personal knowledge. This personal knowledge is not necessarily related to their work or major, but rather their outside interests which were accumulated over a longer span. A marriage of diversified ideas could be the resource for innovative ideas.

The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted the flow of people and goods, but owing to the internet, not knowledge. Activation of knowledge sharing increases people's well-being and social welfare.
