Intentional social action in virtual communities

There is growing evidence of the increasing participation in, and influence of, virtual communities in digital environments. To help explain this irresistible allure, the individual and social determinants of the member's intentions to participate are investigated. Conceptualizing virtual commu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of interactive marketing Vol. 16; no. 2; pp. 2 - 21
Main Authors Bagozzi, Richard P., Dholakia, Utpal M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Elsevier Inc 2002
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Behavior
Chat rooms
Citizen participation
Communication
Consumer behavior
Consumers
Interactive marketing
Internet
Psychology
Social identity
Social psychology
Statistical analysis
Virtual communities
World Wide Web
United States > US
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Summary:There is growing evidence of the increasing participation in, and influence of, virtual communities in digital environments. To help explain this irresistible allure, the individual and social determinants of the member's intentions to participate are investigated. Conceptualizing virtual community participation as intentional social action, we explicate the concept of “we-intentions”, and use the Model of Goal-Directed Behavior to explain members’ we-intentions. Virtual community influences pertaining to compliance, internalization, and social identity are also elaborated on. An empirical study of regular virtual community participants ( N = 157) finds that we-intentions to participate are functions of both individual determinants (positive anticipated emotions and desires), and community influences (social identity). Implications for marketing and future research opportunities are discussed.
Bibliography:SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:1094-9968
1520-6653
DOI:10.1002/dir.10006