The influence of social capital on knowledge creation in online health communities

Zhao, Jing; Ha, Sejin; Widdows, Richard

doi:10.1007/s10799-014-0211-3

Cited by 49 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…However, few studies have considered patients’ loyalty in a Web-based health community context and studied the effect of technical environment on the formation of patients’ loyalty. Meanwhile, although previous literature studied users’ activities on the Web-based health communities, such as knowledge generation [13], knowledge sharing [14], and personal health information communication [15], few of them investigated patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities. Therefore, we propose our research question What are the predictors of patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of Patients’ Loyalty Toward Doctors on Web-Based Health Communities: Cross-Sectional Study

Deng

Zhang

et al. 2019

J Med Internet Res

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Background Web-based health communities provide means for patients to not only seek care but also to promote their relationship with doctors. However, little is known about the predictors of patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities. Objective This study aimed to investigate the predictors of patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities. Methods On the basis of sociotechnical systems theory and attachment theory, we propose that social factors including emotional interaction, perceived expertise, and social norm influence patients’ loyalty through their emotional attachment, whereas technical factors including sociability, personalization, and perceived security affect patients’ loyalty through functional dependence. To validate our proposed research model, we used the survey method and collected 373 valid answers. Partial least square was used to analyze the data. Results Our empirical analysis results showed that all the social factors including emotional interaction (beta=.257, t350=2.571; P=.01), perceived expertise (beta=.288, t350=3.412; P=.001), and social norm (beta=.210, t350=2.017; P=.04) affect patients’ emotional attachment toward doctors significantly, whereas except sociability (beta=.110, t350=1.152; P=.25), technical factors such as personalization (beta=.242, t350=2.228; P=.03) and perceived security (beta=.328, t350=3.438; P=.001) impact functional dependence significantly. Considering the effect of working mechanisms, both emotional attachment (beta=.443, t350=4.518; P<.001) and functional dependence (beta=.303, t350=2.672; P=.008) influence patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities significantly. Conclusions Patients’ loyalty toward doctors in Web-based health communities is important for the effectiveness of doctors’ advice or service in Web-based health communities. The research results not only fill the gaps in the literature of the patient-doctor relationship and Web-based health communities but also has many implications for establishing patients’ loyalty on Web-based health communities and in physical context.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of Patients’ Loyalty Toward Doctors on Web-Based Health Communities: Cross-Sectional Study

Deng

Zhang

et al. 2019

J Med Internet Res

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“…When trust exists, people are willing to contribute important knowledge and to absorb each other's knowledge [36], [49], [50]. Prior studies have found that trust fosters loyalty to virtual communities [9], [17]. Consequently, it is reasonable to expect that if passive users can perceive trust in virtual brand communities through lurking, they will choose to stay in the communities and browse the content exchanged by other members.…”

Section: Research Model and Hypotheses A The Influence Of Relatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…People who lurk are called lurkers that is named as passive users in this study. In order to promote members' continuance participation in virtual communities, previous research has applied multiple theories to study the active participation behavior [2], [17]- [20], while research on the passive participation behavior is still understudied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Technology Acceptance Model With Social Capital Theory to Promote Passive Users’ Continuance Intention Toward Virtual Brand Communities

Deng

Yuan

2020

IEEE Access

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Passive users' continuance usage intention is very important to the sustainable and healthy development of virtual brand communities. Therefore, the factors influencing passive users' continuance usage intention is worth investigating more comprehensively and systematically. This study proposed a research model which integrates technology acceptance model (TAM) with social capital theory to investigate passive users' continuance intention. An online survey was conducted for data collection to test the proposed hypotheses, and structural equation modeling in AMOS was utilized for data analysis. The results suggest that trust and reciprocity have significantly positive direct effects on passive users' continuance intention. Shared vision can significantly influence passive users' continuance intention through the mediating effects of trust and reciprocity. Meanwhile, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use indirectly affect passive users' continuance intention through the multiple mediation roles of shared vision, trust and reciprocity. Finally, specific suggestions for virtual brand community managers are also proposed. INDEX TERMS TAM model, social capital theory, virtual brand community, passive user.

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“…They expect reciprocity, alongside gaining enjoyment in helping others and new knowledge which motivate them to post. The user generated information process is influenced by the enthusiasm of moderators, who offer enjoyable experiences (Lai and Chen, 2014), intimate relationships (Rau, Gao and Ding, 2008) and social capital (Zhao, Ha and Widdows, 2015). Lurkers are defined as passive members who do not post or post fewer messages and learn by observing (Gray, 2004;Petrovčič and Petrič, 2014).…”

Section: The Powerful Future -Social Connectivity and Information Promentioning

confidence: 99%

Methods for studying information provision, networking and communication in patient support groups

Vasilica¹,

Ormandy²

Information Systems

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The influence of social capital on knowledge creation in online health communities

Cited by 49 publications

References 62 publications

Predictors of Patients’ Loyalty Toward Doctors on Web-Based Health Communities: Cross-Sectional Study

Predictors of Patients’ Loyalty Toward Doctors on Web-Based Health Communities: Cross-Sectional Study

Integrating Technology Acceptance Model With Social Capital Theory to Promote Passive Users’ Continuance Intention Toward Virtual Brand Communities

Methods for studying information provision, networking and communication in patient support groups

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