The authors develop a four-dimensional scale to measure members'
satisfaction with virtual communities. The dimensions consist of
members' satisfaction with member-member interactions,
organizer-member interactions, organizer-community interactions, and
the community's site. Using a sample of 3605 members of a virtual
community the authors investigate the effect of each satisfaction
dimension on member participation and the moderating effect of
membership length on the links between the satisfaction dimensions and
member particip ation. The results reveal that satisfaction with
member-member interactions, organizer-member interactions and the
community's site have positive effects on member participation.
Satisfaction with organizer-community interactions has no effect on
member participation. The findings also show that the linkages between
the satisfaction dimensions and member participation are moderated by
membership length
