Understanding knowledge sharing in virtual communities: a network perspective

Abstract

Purpose As more and more people are beginning to take virtual communities (VC) as effective communication channels and the main places to get information and knowledge, understanding the factors that can support or hinder one’s knowledge sharing seems important for the management of VCs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents that influence people’s knowledge sharing in VCs, and to explore influence mechanism and the boundary condition of how the antecedent affect people’s knowledge sharing in VCs. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted empirical research to test our hypotheses. The authors designed a questionnaire based on previous research and collected the questionnaires from seven VCs in China, including two specific topic-based forums in Baidu Tieba which is the largest Chinese online communication platform, three in traditional university bulletin board system (BBS) forums and another two based on instant messaging service. The final sample the authors got included 96 individuals. Then the authors used the hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) technique to analysis the data. Findings The results suggest that community member’s attachment can be a strong indicator of his/her knowledge-sharing intention which will possibly lead to knowledge-sharing behavior. However, this effect can be contingent on individual centrality and community member fluctuations. In a stable community, those who are in the peripheral position are more likely to transfer their attachment into knowledge sharing because they have the intention to move into central positions and knowledge sharing can help them gain status. While in an unstable environment, it does not make any difference between people in different position in the social network. Originality/value First, this paper reveals member’s attachment as the antecedent of people’s knowledge sharing in VCs. Second, this paper adopts a network perspective to construct the research model. And the basic point made is that knowledge sharing can be seen as a channel to attain status and centrality in a community. Thus, people who are in periphery positions are more likely to transfer their community attachment into knowledge-sharing intention. Third, this paper emphasizes the dynamic characteristic of members in VCs and proves the moderation effect of community member fluctuations.

What influences news learning and sharing on mobile platforms? An analysis of multi-level informational factors

“…Bagozzi and Dholakia (2006) found that group identification would influence a member's intention to participate in collective activities, cooperation and even organizational altruism. Further, a community member's attachment can be a strong indicator of his/her knowledge-sharing intention, which will possibly lead to knowledge-sharing behavior (Deng and Guo, 2021). Regarding the influence of community identification on users' sharing behavior, Lee et al.…”

Online knowledge sharing in blockchains: towards increasing participation

“…The trust relationship between members can effectively alleviate the “prisoner's dilemma” (Zhang et al ., 2016). Users' trust in the community system has a significant positive impact on the willingness to share knowledge (Deng, 2019), and improves the likelihood that community members will choose to exhibit a sharing behavior. Incentive mechanisms are another important factor affecting knowledge sharing.…”

Untitled

“…The earlier research, focused on factors influencing knowledge sharing behaviors in virtual communities, included rewards (Wang et al, 2022) knowledge sharing intention (Chen et al, 2009), knowledge sharing self-efficacy, commitment and trust (Chan et al, 2015). In some publications also symbolic convergence perspective (Wei-Tsong, Hui-Hsiang, 2019), perspectives of well-being and organizational behavior (Chumg et al, 2016) and network perspective (Deng, Guo, 2021) were used.…”