Understanding Online Community User Participation: A Social Influence Perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the determinants of online community user participation from a social influence perspective. Design/methodology/approachBased on 450 valid responses collected from a survey questionnaire, structural equation modeling (SEM) technology was employed to examine the research model. FindingsThe results show that both social identity and group norm have significant effects on user participation. In addition, group norm affects social identity. We did not find the effect of subjective norm on participation intention. Research limitations/implicationsThis research is limited to a particular sample: students. Thus our results need to be generalized to other samples, such as working professionals. Originality/valueExtant research has mainly focused on the effects of user motivations such as perceived usefulness, trust and commitment on online community user behavior, and seldom considered the effects of social processes including compliance, identification and internalization on user behavior. Our research tries to fill the gap.