Factors affecting active participation in business-to-business online business communities

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThe aim of this research is to investigate factors affecting active participation in Business-to-Business Online Business Communities (B2B OBCs). The primary objective of the study was to develop a framework to better understand the important factors affecting members’ active participation behaviour in B2B OBCs. To achieve the main goal of this research, an integrated framework was developed underpinned by three well known theories: Uses and Gratification (U&G), Social Exchange (SET), and Information Systems Success Model (ISSM). A mixed method approach (partially mixed sequential dominant status design) was employed to answer the research question and achieve the objectives of the study. Accordingly, this study was carried out in two phases. During the first phase an exploratory study was carried out to further explore the framework. For that purpose semi-structured interviews with twelve members of B2B OBCs were conducted. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis utilising NVIVO and this assisted in discovering another important factor ‘service quality’, which reflected on the moderator’s role inside B2B OBCs. Subsequently, service quality was added to the model. The exploratory study is also helped to develop a new measure for active participation in the context of B2B OBCs as this study was unable to adapt the measure for the construct from prior studies due to the discrepancy in the literature. In the second phase of the study, a quantitative approach (online questionnaires) was employed to test the developed framework. Using non-probability convenience sampling technique, 521 useable online questionnaires were collected from 41 B2B OBCs on LinkedIn. The collected data was then analysed using a second generation approach (SEM) utilising AMOS. During the data analysis, two U&G constructs (functional need and hedonic need) were found to have a positive impact on active participation. Yet, the direct association between psychological need and active participation was not significant. Nevertheless, the construct found to have a positive and indirect relationship with active participation. In addition, two of the SET constructs (reciprocity and affective commitment) were also found to have a positive association with active participation. Trusting beliefs was found to have no direct impact on active participation. Further analysis revealed that the relationship between the two construct was indirect via affective commitment. Furthermore, three factors that were identified under ISSM, information quality, system quality, and service quality, were also found to be the antecedent of trusting beliefs but they did not have a direct impact on active participation. Information quality and service quality were also found to have an indirect and positive impact on affective commitment and active participation. The analysis also revealed that members from different industry types had different participation behaviour in B2B OBCs. The research outcomes made several contributions to the literature. These include a new measure for active participation and service quality. This provides a new validated instrument for B2B OBC researchers to adapt in the future. Further, an integrated model for factors affecting active participation in B2B OBCs was developed. This also provides a foundation for future studies in the field. The final results of this study demonstrate the appropriateness and robustness of the developed model, and further suggests that any attempt to investigate members participation behaviour in B2B OBCs will be incomplete unless all three theories (U&G, SET, and ISSM) are cosnidered. Moreover, this study helped to extend the existing knowledge on Online Community (OC) defintions, OC taxonomies, OC commitment, and OC trust. Finally, the findings of this study propose several guidelines to assist B2B OBC providers to build and maintain successful communities

Trust and reciprocity effect on electronic word-of-mouth in online review communities

Purpose Social media developments in the last decade have led to the emergence of a new form of word of mouth (WOM) in the digital environment. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is considered by many scholars and practitioners to be the most influential informal communication mechanism between businesses and potential and actual consumers. The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge about WOM in this new context by proposing a conceptual framework that enables a better understanding of how trust and reciprocity influence eWOM participation in ORCs. Design/methodology/approach This study applies non-probability convenience sampling technique to conduct a quantitative study of data from an online survey of 189 members of ORCs. Partial least squares (PLS) is used to analyse the correlations between individuals’ intention to seek opinion, to give their own opinion and to pass on the opinion of another within ORCs. Findings The data analysis reveals that opinion seeking within ORCs had a direct effect on opinion giving and opinion passing. Ability trust and integrity trust had a positive effect on opinion seeking, while benevolence trust had a direct positive effect on opinion passing. Reciprocity had a direct impact on opinion passing. While reciprocity did not affect opinion giving, the relationship between these two concepts was mediated by integrity trust. Research limitations/implications By studying the complexities that characterise the relationships between reciprocity, trust and eWOM, the study extends understanding of eWOM in ORCs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of only a few papers that have examined the complex interrelationships between reciprocity, trust and eWOM in the context of ORCs

Factors affecting active participation in B2B online communities:An empirical investigation

There is a lack of understanding on the factors affecting active participation in Business-to-Business (B2B) Online Communities (OC). To address this gap, we developed a model based on two theories: Social Exchange Theory and the Information Systems Success Model. The model was validated by using survey data collected from 40 B2B discussion forums on LinkedIn (n = 521). Our work made a number of significant contributions including an integrated model of factors affecting active participation in B2B OCs and a new validated measure for active participation. Further, we proposed several guidelines which assist B2B OC providers in building and maintaining successful communitities

Towards understanding members’ participation behaviour in B2B virtual communities: a socio-technical approach

Full text available via link.The importance of virtual communities for businesses has been well documented in the literature. Particularly, information and knowledge exchange has been identified as one of the main reasons for businesses to participate in virtual communities. The success of a virtual community depends on its members’ active contribution to the community. A considerable amount of literature has been published on factors affecting members’ participation behaviour in various community types. Limited research has focused on B2B virtual communities. Subsequently, there is limited understanding of what motivates businesses to actively participate in their virtual communities. Hence, the primary goal of this paper is to provide some understanding of the crucial factors that determine businesses’ participation behaviours in virtual community environments. Towards achieving this aim, underpinned by two well-known theories: Social Exchange Theory and Information System Success Model, this study proposes an integrated theoretical framework. The application of the framework has yet to be tested with a particular B2B virtual community

Active participation in business-to-business online communities: a conceptual framework

Online communities (OCs) have been studied for the past several decades by many scholars from different disciplines and backgrounds. It is found that the success of an OC largely depends on its members’ participation and contribution behaviour. While significant research has examined the factors affecting participation in various OC types ranging from online communities of practice to online social networking sites, little research has focused on Business-to-Business (B2B) OCs. Hence, the primarily aim of this paper is to provide some understanding of the most important factors affecting active participation in B2B OCs. Towards achieving this goal, this study proposed a theoretical framework underpinned by two well-known theories: Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Uses and Gratification theory (U&G). This study contributes to the OC literature by defining and classifying online business communities and proposes a theoretical model to address active participation in B2B OC. This is a theoretical study and its application has not been tested on a particular community, the next step therefore is to conduct future studies to empirically test the framework with B2B OCs members

Big data analytics capability and contribution to firm performance: the mediating effect of organizational learning on firm performance

FNEGE 4, HCERES B, ABS 2International audiencePurpose > The study examines how firms may transform big data analytics (BDA) into a sustainable competitive advantage and enhance business performance using BDA. Furthermore, this study identifies various resources and sub-capabilities that contribute to BDA capability. Design/methodology/approach > Using classic grounded theory (GT), resource-based theory and dynamic capability (DC), the authors conducted interviews, which involved an exploratory inductive process. Through a continuous iterative process between the collection, analysis and comparison of data, themes and their relationships appeared. The literature was used as part of the data set in the later phases of data collection and analysis to identify how the study’s findings fit with the extant literature and enrich the emerging concepts and their relationships. Findings > The data analysis led to developing a conceptual model of BDA capability that described how BDA contributes to firm performance through the mediated impact of organizational learning (OL). The findings indicate that BDA capability is incomplete in the absence of BDA capability dimensions and their sub-dimensions, and expected advancement will not be achieved. Research limitations/implications > The research offers insights on how BDA is converted into an enterprise-wide initiative, by extending the BDA capability model and describing the role of per dimension in constructing the capability. In addition, the paper provides managers with insights regarding the ways in which BDA capability continuously contributes to OL, fosters organizational knowledge and organizational abilities to sense, seize and reconfigure data and knowledge to grab digital opportunities in order to sustain competitive advantage. Originality/value > This article is the first exploratory research using GT to identify how data-driven firms obtain and sustain BDA competitive advantage, beyond prior studies that employed mostly a hypothetico-deductive stance to investigate BDA capability. While the authors discovered various dimensions of BDA capability and identified several factors, some of the prior related studies showed some of the dimensions as formative factors (e.g. Lozada et al ., 2019; Mikalef et al ., 2019) and some other research depicted the different dimensions of BDA capability as reflective factors (e.g. Wamba and Akter, 2019; Ferraris et al. , 2019). Thus, it was found necessary to correctly define different dimensions and their contributions, since formative and reflective models represent various approaches to achieving the capability. In this line, the authors used GT, as an exploratory method, to conceptualize BDA capability and the mechanism that it contributes to firm performance. This research introduces new capability dimensions that were not examined in prior research. The study also discusses how OL mediates the impact of BDA capability on firm performance, which is considered the hidden value of BDA capability

Trust and reciprocity effect on electronic word-of-mouth in online review communities

Purpose Social media developments in the last decade have led to the emergence of a new form of word of mouth (WOM) in the digital environment. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is considered by many scholars and practitioners to be the most influential informal communication mechanism between businesses and potential and actual consumers. The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge about WOM in this new context by proposing a conceptual framework that enables a better understanding of how trust and reciprocity influence eWOM participation in ORCs. Design/methodology/approach This study applies non-probability convenience sampling technique to conduct a quantitative study of data from an online survey of 189 members of ORCs. Partial least squares (PLS) is used to analyse the correlations between individuals’ intention to seek opinion, to give their own opinion and to pass on the opinion of another within ORCs. Findings The data analysis reveals that opinion seeking within ORCs had a direct effect on opinion giving and opinion passing. Ability trust and integrity trust had a positive effect on opinion seeking, while benevolence trust had a direct positive effect on opinion passing. Reciprocity had a direct impact on opinion passing. While reciprocity did not affect opinion giving, the relationship between these two concepts was mediated by integrity trust. Research limitations/implications By studying the complexities that characterise the relationships between reciprocity, trust and eWOM, the study extends understanding of eWOM in ORCs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of only a few papers that have examined the complex interrelationships between reciprocity, trust and eWOM in the context of ORCs