Active Participation in Problem Solving Virtual Communities: a Learning Perspective

Active participation of members is considered essential to the success of virtual communities. We incorporated the Adaptive Structuration Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory to propose a conceptual model in explaining active participation in problem solving virtual communities from a learning perspective. In this model, learning orientation and learning expectancy were identified as predictors of active participation according to Expectancy-Value Theory. We further analyzed the influence of structural feature (community adaptivity) and structural spirits (leadership and conflict management) based on Adaptive Structuration Theory and suggested that they would affect active participation through learning expectancy. The theoretical model presented in this article provided a fresh perspective on problem solving virtual community and we hope the findings would suggest important implications for the design and management of problem solving virtual communities.