Conceptualisation of ideal church leaders in the Society Revolution 5.0

Although active participation of members is a critical success factor for virtual communities, few members actively participate in activities in virtual communities (e.g., posting, commenting, sharing, etc.). This study explores the differences between passive and active community participation from community cohesiveness and community attachment perspectives. Drawing upon a context-specific cohesiveness-attachment-participation framework based on cognition-affection-conation traits of human psychology, we propose a research model and empirically test the roles of community cohesiveness and attachment in virtual community participation. The results suggest that community members’ active participation is positively influenced by both community cohesiveness and community attachment. Visitation, as the passive mode of participation, is influenced by community attachment only. The findings not only inspire future IS research to consider community cohesiveness, attachment, and participation as vital research constructs in other social contexts, but it also helps managers build managerial actions, such as prioritising their limited business resources to increase community members’ active participation, for the success of virtual communities.

Virtual brand communities are increasing their importance day by day due to the fact that many consumers are using several online tools to share ideas and contact fellow consumers. For this reason, this work explores some antecedents and outcomes of consumer participation in virtual brand communities. The data, obtained through a web survey using Spanish-speaking members of several virtual communities, show that propensity to trust, familiarity with the community, satisfaction in previous interactions with other community members and communication in the community are the main precursors of consumers intentions to participate in a virtual community. Additionally, consumer participation in the activities carried out in a virtual brand community may enhance consumer loyalty to the brand around which the community is centred.

PurposeThe importance of virtual brand communities is growing day by day as a result of consumers increasingly using online tools to contact fellow consumers in order to get information on which to base their decisions. For this reason, this work aims to explore some of the effects of participation in a virtual brand community on consumer behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThe paper proposes the positive effects of participation in a virtual community on both consumer trust and loyalty to the product, brand or organisation around which the community is developed. In addition, it also proposes a positive effect of trust on consumer loyalty. After the validations of measurement scales, the hypotheses are contrasted through structural modelling.FindingsThe data, obtained through a web survey using members of several free software virtual communities, show that participation in the activities carried out in a virtual community may foster consumer trust and loyalty to the mutual interest of the community (the free software in this case). In addition, the study also found a positive and significant effect of consumer trust on loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsData were collected thanks to a web survey using Spanish‐speaking subjects.Practical implicationsThe high costs every company has to face in order to get new customers make it increasingly necessary to reinforce the ties established with customers. In this respect, this study has shown that managers may foster consumer trust and loyalty by developing virtual brand communities and promoting consumers' participation in them.Originality/valueMost of the works that are focused on virtual communities have been conducted at the conceptual level. Thus, with the aim of moving on this topic, this study analyses empirically the effects of participation in a virtual brand community on consumer behaviour.

PurposeExploring the antecedents of members community participation is extremely important for virtual communities (VCs) research and practice. As an important social characteristic of individuals, social embeddedness has been proved as an important antecedent of many individual behaviors; however, few research has investigated the influence of virtual community members social embeddedness on virtual community members’ participation. To fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between social embeddedness and community participation in VCs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducted empirical study to test the hypotheses. Based on existing scales, this research designed the questionnaire and used a web-based survey to collect the data from VCs in China. To avoid the common method bias, this study collected data at two different times. The final sample included 96 virtual community members from seven communities (community size ranging from 10 to 25) of Baidu Tieba, which is the largest Chinese online communication platform. And this paper used regression models to analysis the data.FindingsBased on social network theory, this paper found that virtual community members’ social embeddedness in their virtual community has a curvilinear (i.e. inverted U-shaped) effect on their community participation behaviors. And members’ perceived autonomy mediates the curvilinear (i.e. reversed U-shaped) relationship between social network embeddedness and community participation. Furthermore, member instability moderates the curvilinear (i.e. inverted U-shaped) main effect, such that the curvilinear relationship is weakened when member instability is high.Originality/valueDeparting from previous virtual community studies that examine antecedences of participation in linear logic, this study applied social network theory to create a complex, curvilinear, moderated mediation model. The result reveals a curvilinear (i.e. inverted U-shaped) relationship between virtual community members’ social embeddedness in the virtual community and their community participation. And this study also introduce autonomy as mediator and member instability as moderator. By testing the whole model between community members’ social embeddedness and community participation, this study contributes to deepen the understanding of social embeddedness and virtual community participation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how active participants within personal challenge virtual communities (e.g. virtual health communities, online legal forums, etc.) derive learning benefits from their involvement within the community. In doing so, the research conceptualises and tests a model of engagement within such virtual communities.Design/methodology/approachThis research was conducted through the design of a survey administered to an online panel of active participants from several virtual health communities. Structural equation modelling was used to test the conceptual model.FindingsAlong with well-researched concepts such as social identification, this research identifies diagnostic and prescriptive benefits as key learning benefits associated with active participation within personal challenge communities. These benefits drive social support which individuals attain from these virtual communities, which, in turn, drives engagement within the community. It is also found that anticipated negative emotions from leaving the community mediate social support and engagement.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to develop a model of consumer engagement with personal challenge virtual communities. The findings make a contribution to the field of online communities by showing how learning benefits (diagnostic and prescriptive) transpire within these communities and how these benefits lead to greater community engagement.

This research addresses the question of the design of advanced interfaces (e.g., 3D) to encourage participation in virtual communities and support social interaction. While prior studies have examined diverse factors to affect members' intention to participate in virtual communities, they have relatively underestimated a technological influence on members' intention to participate. Considering current virtual communities have been armed with advanced interfaces, it is vital to investigate a technological influence on members' behavioral intention. This paper investigates members' intention to participate in virtual communities by testing a research model consisting of two types of presence (telepresence and social presence) and their antecedents. The research model was empirically tested with data from 207 members of Second Life which is an emerging virtual community equipped with an advanced 3D interface. The results showed our model can be a good framework in understanding members' intention to participate in virtual communities.

Internet technology has given birth to continuous changes in business model and format innovation. With increasingly critical consumers, blowout development model and format innovation, enterprises are increasingly aware of the importance of customer participation in service innovation. At the same time, the development of information technology provides convenient conditions for communication between enterprises and customers, and online virtual community also provides a platform for customers to participate in the process of enterprise service innovation in an instant. Based on the theory of customer participation, knowledge transfer and service innovation performance, this paper explores the influence mechanism of customer participation in virtual community on service innovation performance, and analyzes the mediating role of knowledge transfer. Through the analysis of the results of the questionnaire, the relevant hypotheses are verified. The results show that customer participation in virtual community has a positive impact on service innovation performance. Customer participation helps enterprises obtain relevant knowledge such as customer needs and reduce barriers to knowledge sharing. In addition, enterprises will acquire customer knowledge about new products, which provides the possibility for the development of new products and services, thereby enhancing the enterprises’ service innovation performance. Knowledge transfer plays a part of mediating role between customer participation and service innovation performance. In the process of enterprises’ service innovation, customers mainly participate in the enterprise by means of knowledge transfer and help the enterprise improve service innovation performance.

This chapter describes important issues regarding research students' participation in a virtual community. Within a virtual community, university staff can communicate with research students without geographical/space constraints, and research students can exchange views, materials, and experience with their peers and/or academics in a flexible learning environment. Students' participation in virtual communities is mainly based on socio-emotional and informational motivations. Initially, this chapter describes the conditions of research in a traditional environment and the role of students and academics in it, along with the role of pedagogical and psychological aspects in virtual communities. Examples from a university virtual community developed in a Virtual Learning Environment and a Facebook™ closed group are presented. Apart from discussion forums, blended learning activities also increase students' engagement in virtual communities. Technical issues and difficulties based on different learning environments and university members' experience and familiarity with technology are highlighted and discussed.

This chapter describes important issues regarding research students' participation in a virtual community. Within a virtual community, university staff can communicate with research students without geographical/space constraints, and research students can exchange views, materials, and experience with their peers and/or academics in a flexible learning environment. Students' participation in virtual communities is mainly based on socio-emotional and informational motivations. Initially, this chapter describes the conditions of research in a traditional environment and the role of students and academics in it, along with the role of pedagogical and psychological aspects in virtual communities. Examples from a university virtual community developed in a Virtual Learning Environment and a Facebook™ closed group are presented. Apart from discussion forums, blended learning activities also increase students' engagement in virtual communities. Technical issues and difficulties based on different learning environments and university members' experience and familiarity with technology are highlighted and discussed.

User-generated content (UGC) forms an indispensable part of virtual community (VC) based on marketing. It not only makes the community information-rich, but is also instrumental in generating more interactions on the community platform, involving more number of members, both actively and passively. With this backdrop, the present study aims to explore active participation (AP) of members in a VC, which leads to the creation of UGC for the community. Social media (SM) use being context dependent, the main objective of this article is to study the role of VC benefits in inducing AP among users in the Indian context. The mediating role of member’s satisfaction with the community in the above relationship is also explored. The proposed model is tested on a convenience sample of 170 SM users using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that of the three benefit categories, selected, social and hedonic benefits, play an important role in inducing AP among community members. A bootstrap analysis is performed to check for mediation, wherein satisfaction is found to partially mediate the relationship between social benefits and AP, and indirect mediation is established between hedonic benefits and AP. The study offers useful insights to community managers, so as to strategically design their community content creating satisfied users and inducing AP.

Customer Participation in Virtual Communities for Local High Streets

With the development of digitalization and Internet technology, virtual community, as a new social form, emerges constantly. In the virtual community, people can interact, communicate, share and cooperate with other users through the network platform, thus forming a community with common interests or goals. With the popularization and deepening of virtual community, more and more enterprises begin to pay attention to and use virtual community as a channel for marketing and product innovation. This paper introduces the concept and characteristics of virtual community, analyzes the significance of customers' participation in innovation and the motives of different customers' participation, and discusses the strategies for establishing the innovation mechanism of customers' participation in virtual community.

Now, the number of virtual communities in the world is increasing at an unprecedented rate. It has brought a whole new way of the life to people, the new forms of social organization also impact increasingly on everyone in the traditional communities. The rise of social media affords the companies to a richer relationship with the users through the virtual community. At present in domestic, scholars researched virtual community mainly in the concept, network interaction, and knowledge sharing of the virtual community. The literatures of users’ participation in virtual community are relatively few. Understanding the users’ needs in communities is the key to foster and maintain them participation in virtual communities. This paper explores the three stages of fostering participation of members and motivating cooperation in virtual community for virtual community initiator, and we hope to suggest some ideas and methods of for initiators.

The rapid growth of virtual communities has created a new interest in researchers. Indeed, understanding these communities is especially relevant because it may allow for the obtaining of valuable information (e.g. needs of particular groups of people). In this respect, this work tries to explore which factors motivate individuals to take part of a virtual community since participation is one of the most important variables for the development and sustainability of virtual communities. More specifically, we analyze the effects of trust in a community, satisfaction with previous interactions and the communication level of the members’ intentions to participate in a given virtual community. The data (obtained through an online surveys made to members of several virtual communities) show that trust in a virtual community had a positive and significant effect on members’ participation in a virtual community. In addition, we found that satisfaction with previous interactions and the level of communication in a community significantly increased the level of trust in that virtual community.

The asymmetry of activity in virtual communities is of great interest. While participation in the activities of virtual communities is crucial for a community's survival and development, many people prefer lurking, that is passive attention over active participation. Often, lurkers are the vast majority. There could be many reasons for lurking. Lurking can be measured and perhaps affected by both dispositional and situational variables. This project investigates social and cultural capital, situational antecedents of lurking and de-lurking. We propose a novel way of measuring such capital, lurking, and de-lurking. We try to figure out what are the triggers to active participation. We try to answer this by mathematically defining a social communication network of activities in authenticated discussion forums. Authenticated discussion forums provide exact log information about every participant's activities and allow us to identify lurkers that become first time posters. The proposed social communication network approach (SCN) is an extension of the traditional social network methodology to include, beyond human actors, discussion topics (e.g. Usenet newsgroups threads) and subjects of discussions (e.g. Usenet groups) as well. In addition, the social communication network approach distinguishes between READ and POST link types. These indicate active participation on the part of the human actor. We attempt to validate this model by examining the SCN using data collected in a sample of 82 online forums. By analyzing a graph structure of the network at moments of initial postings we verify several hypotheses about causes of de-lurking and provide some directions towards measuring active participation in virtual communities.