Relationship support activities, community commitment, and voluntary behaviour in online communities Online publication date: Sun, 20-Feb-2005
by Jae Wook Kim, Jiho Choi, Kyesook Han
International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising (IJIMA), Vol. 1, No. 4, 2004
Abstract: While many practitioners and researchers have recognised the importance of the online community, there has been little empirical research that investigates how online communities effectively sustain their existence and maintain value for their members. The purpose of this study is to suggest online community voluntary behaviour (OCVB) as a critical behavioural outcome that an online community has to pursue from its members to ensure successful growth and existence, and to empirically examine the relationships among relationship building efforts, community commitment, and OCVB. We have tested a model using data collected from a total of 1514 members of an online community and confirmed that online community commitment is a key mediator between OCVB and relationship support activities. The results suggest that an online community's activities to support its members enhance members' commitment to the community and that the community commitment has an important influence on members' voluntary behaviour.
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