Content area
Full text
ABSTRACT
A virtual community (VC) is a cyberspace in which members exchange information for mutual benefit in terms of learning and problem-solving. Drawing upon and extending the theory of uses and gratifications (U&G), this study proposes a research model that integrates U&G with the sense of membership (SOM) to explore their effects on individuals' information-sharing intentions. 1,280 valid responses were collected from six Chinese information exchange VCs through an online survey. The results show that anticipative reputation, vertical relationship, horizontal relationship, reciprocity, enjoyment gratification, and SOM can directly affect individuals' information-sharing intentions. Additionally, SOM moderates the effects of anticipative reputation, vertical relationship, horizontal relationship, relative advantage, and enjoyment. These findings highlight the importance of SOM for moderating information-sharing tendencies not only for researchers but also for practitioners of VCs. Our extended U&G model could serve as a valuable theoretical foundation for future studies to gain a fine-tuned understanding of informationsharing decisions in VC contexts.
Keywords: Information sharing intention; Uses and gratifications; Virtual community; Sense of membership
1.Introduction
The rapid advancement of information technologies has enabled Internet users to exchange a variety of information online (Lin & Wang, 2020). People have grown accustomed to accessing information online to solve problems in work, study, or daily life. This has prompted the popularity of information-sharing virtual communities (VCs), which encourage users to exchange information for mutual learning. Quora, a leading information-sharing VC for English-speaking countries, had more than 4 million unique daily visitors on average in December 2020. Likewise, Zhihu, a popular Chinese information-sharing VC, attained an average of 25 million unique daily visitors in the same period.1 The survival and flourishing of information-sharing VCs depend on the quantity and quality of the information being shared (Chen & Hung, 2010); consequently, exploring the primary factors that motivate Internet users to share information is a key research topic in the information systems (IS) domain (Liu et al., 2016).
Various studies (Bock et al., 2005; Chang & Chuang, 2011; Herrero et al., 2017; Hwang et al., 2018; Kankanhalli et al., 2005; Lin & Wang, 2020; Wasko & Faraj, 2005; Zhang et al., 2019) have been undertaken to investigate the determinants of information-sharing behaviors from different theoretical perspectives. They have identified several critical motivational factors, including social, utilitarian, and hedonic...