Exploring the Moderating Effects of Commitment and Perceived Value of Knowledge in Explaining Knowledge Contribution in Virtual Communities

Motivating people to contribute knowledge to others has become a major challenge in knowledge management. To help understand knowledge contribution in virtual communities (VCs)—a popular area for knowledge sharing, this study investigates individuals’ motivations to contribute knowledge based on the nature of knowledge contribution behavior. In particular, the influences of two key moderating variables which have been neglected in most previous studies are examined. The theoretical model is empirically tested using data collected from 363 VC members. We find that reciprocity, reputation, knowledge self-efficacy, enjoyment in helping others and commitment are key factors of four kinds (egoism, altruism, collectivism and principlism) that significantly and directly influence individuals’ knowledge contribution intention in VCs. Perceived value of knowledge (PVK) is found to be an important moderator of the relationships between reciprocity, enjoyment in helping others and knowledge contribution intention. We confirm that commitment reduces the impact of reputation on knowledge contribution intention. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed

Can Social Exchange Theory Explain Individual Knowledge-Sharing Behavior? A Meta-Analysis

Motivating people to contribute knowledge has become an important research topic and a major challenge for organizations. In order to promote knowledge-sharing, managers need to understand the mechanism that drives individuals to contribute their valuable knowledge. Several theories have been applied to study knowledge-sharing behavior. However, the research settings and findings are often inconsistent. In this study, we use the social exchange theory as our base to develop an extended model that includes IT support and organizational type as moderators. A meta-analysis on 29 reported studies was conducted to examine how different factors in the social exchange theory affect knowledge-sharing behavior. The findings confirm that the social exchange theory plays an important role underlying individuals’ knowledge-sharing behavior. The results also demonstrate that social interaction and trust derived from the social exchange theory and moderated by IT contextual factors can predict individual’s knowledge-sharing behavior

Looking at both sides of relationship dynamics in virtual communities: A social exchange theoretical lens

This study draws on social exchange theory to investigate the relationship dynamics of the member–community dyad in virtual community settings. Using a longitudinal design and multiple measurement sources, the findings indicate that social and task communication styles have unique effects on members’ community commitment velocity, which in turn influences member gratitude and entitlement behaviors. A moderated path analysis demonstrates that the effects of social and task communication styles on community commitment velocity are both positively moderated by attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. It also reveals that members’ level of popularity augments the influence of community commitment velocity on member entitlement behavior

Understanding Sustained Participation in Transactional Virtual Communities

Two research gaps in prior studies on knowledge sharing in virtual communities (VCs) are identified. First, prior studies have focused on VCs with no explicit rewards system, whereas VCs using a competition-based reward system (e.g., transactional VCs) is not explored. Second, prior studies have concentrated on the determinants of initial participation rather than sustained participation. In this study, considering that a social learning process is involved in sustained participation, task complexity and self-efficacy – two social learning factors – are proposed to moderate the relationship between motivations and sustained participation. A filed survey with 205 subjects in a transactional virtual community was conducted to test the research model. According to findings, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations significantly influence knowledge sharing intention. Negative interaction effect between extrinsic motivation and task complexity, as well as positive interaction effect between intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy, are observed as well. Implications and future research are discussed

Examining individual, job and perceived organizational climate factors in relation to the knowledge sharing behavior

This study examined the direct relationship between individual capabilities, career advancement, personal values, job characteristics, perceived organizational climate and knowledge- sharing behavior. The study also investigated the moderating effect of subjective norms on the relationship between individual capabilities, career advancement, personal values, job characteristics, perceived organizational climate and knowledge- sharing behavior. A total of 650 questionnaires were personally distributed to respondents from five Tanzanian public hospitals (Muhimbili National Hospital, Ligula Referral Hospital, Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Sekou Toure Reginal Hospital Mwanza and Mbeya Referral Hospital) after permission was granted by the hospital management. Out of the 650 questionnaires distributed, 476 questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 73%. However, only 439 questionnaires were usable for final analysis. The hypotheses for direct and moderating effects were tested using Smart PLS. The findings of the PLS path model indicated that individual capabilities, career advancement, personal values, and perceived organizational climate are significantly and positively related to knowledge- sharing behavior. Regarding the subjective norms as a moderator in the relationship between exogenous latent variables and the endogenous latent variable, subjective norms were found to moderate the relationship between individual capabilities, job characteristics, perceived organizational climate and knowledge- sharing behavior. The research results reported in this study suggest the need to enhance individual capabilities, career advancement, personal values, and perceived organizational climate as a way of encouraging knowledge- sharing behavior among the healthcare professionals. Apart from that, the hospital management also needs to consider the role of subjective norms when planning to enhance healthcare professionals’ knowledge- sharing behavior, especially when involving individual capabilities, job characteristics and perceived organizational climate

Explaining users’ intentions to continue participating in Web 2.0 communities: The case of Facebook in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Traditional communications media has been transformed and reshaped with the introduction of the Internet and its technologies. The Internet has massively evolved over time, and the World Wide Web or otherwise referred to as Web 1.0 has developed to what is so called Web 2.0. The explosive diffusion of this global system has fostered the emergence of Web-based communities supported by the existence of globally connected individuals. As both the number of World Wide Web virtual community sites and users has expanded and grown quickly, these communities have become a subject of study to researchers of multiple disciplines. However, sustaining a successful operation of any Web 2.0 community depends on the continuous participation of its own users. It is massively important to maintain committed members in terms of continuous participation. Yet, their level of participation might vary depending on one‘s personal, social, situational, and cultural influences that eventually affect their intentions and behaviour on whether to continue or discontinue participating in that community. Facebook as a particular Web 2.0 community has been used as an exemplary case study in this research reflecting the drivers of its continuous usage in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Moreover, very few studies on Web 2.0 communities covered the Middle East area and more specifically there is almost absence of research in Jordan on how users of Facebook along with their cultural and behavioural influences would continue using this Web 2.0 community or not. Therefore, this study tackles this issue to investigate the influences affecting the continuous participation in these communities This research develops a conceptual framework that can be used as an instrument to guide empirical work in the field of Web 2.0 communities. The empirical context of the research is random Facebook users in Jordan, where data were analysed using quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Results and findings show that Personal attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control has shown to be all significant and highly influential on affecting users‘ intentions to continue participating on Facebook, perceived behavioural control (i.e. facilitating conditions, controllability) ranked the highest in its significance towards examining users’ intentions to continue participating on Facebook. Followed by the subjective norms (i.e. critical mass, compliance, and informational influences), then ranked the personal attitude (i.e. satisfaction, compatibility). Results have proved that most Facebook users in Jordan do participate on this site in the first place to deliver epistemic value elements, not with a much difference came the social value after, then ranked the hedonic third. The utilitarian value proved to be insignificant by all means, therefore, users intend to continue participating on Facebook despite of the perceived value elements to be delivered. Interestingly, analysis have proved the insignificance of the three cultural dimensions (i.e. masculinity vs. Femininity, individualism vs. Collectivism, and long-term vs. Short-term orientation), therefore, it has not been considered moderating in the framework of this research. Furthermore, the study concludes with specific implications for relevant theories, and useful findings on the individual, organizational, and the societal levels. Additionally, researchers in similar areas can find this work useful as a way to approach new streams in studying participation in Web 2.0 communities

Understanding the Adoption of Smart Community Services: Perceived Usefulness, Enjoyment, and Affective Community Commitment

Smart community is an emerging form of community that provides various convenient services (smart community services (SCS)) through smart community platform to community residents. However, in practice, residents have limited SCS acceptance, which deserves to be further investigated in the literature. This study investigates the SCS adoption of residents by integrating technological belief factors (perceived usefulness and enjoyment), and social influence factor (affective community commitment). A survey of 191 residents identifies perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and affective community commitment as important determinants of SCS adoption. Affective community commitment weakens the effect of perceived enjoyment yet strengthen the effect of perceived usefulness on SCS adoption. Our study fills the research gap on smart community as well as enriches the IT acceptance literature. This study also offers practical recommendations that can aid practitioners in conducting smart community programs

When Socialization Goes Wrong: Understanding the We-Intention to Participate in Collective Trolling in Virtual Communities

Although collective trolling poses a growing threat to both individuals and virtual community owners, the information systems (IS) literature lacks a rich theorization of this phenomenon. To address the research gaps, we introduce the concept of we-intention to capture the collective nature of collective trolling in virtual communities. We also integrate the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) and situational action theory to invoke the sociotechnical perspective in theorizing collective trolling in virtual communities. The objective of this study is to use the sociotechnical perspective to understand the we-intention to participate in collective trolling in virtual communities. We test our proposed model using data gathered from 377 Reddit users. Our moderated mediation analysis elaborates how technical elements (i.e., anonymity of self and anonymity of others) influence the we-intention to participate in collective trolling via individual-based social elements (i.e., perceived online disinhibition and social identity), with an environment-based social element (i.e., the absence of capable guardianship) as a boundary condition. We contribute to research by explaining collective trolling in virtual communities from the group-referent intentional action perspective and sociotechnical perspective. We also offer practical insights into ways to combat collective trolling in virtual communities

How Can Information Systems Strengthen Virtual Communities? Perspective of Media Richness Theory

Media richness was known as important in designing information and communication technologies (ICTs). However, no studies have examined how the four aspects of media richness could help fuel users’ commitment to virtual communities, indicating a gap. Hence, we use media richness theory and initiate to use its key elements (i.e., message certainty and message unequivocality) to construct a research framework. We collected 1,971 responses from virtual communities in online games and used structural equation modeling for testing the hypotheses. We found that immediate feedback and personal focus are positively related to message certainty and message unequivocality that are further positively related to network convergence and interdependence, thus contributing to commitment to virtual communities. This study is the first formally incorporating and testing the key elements of media richness, i.e., message certainty and message unequivocality, and examining how media richness of information systems could fuel users’ commitment to virtual communities