• 한국경영과학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.19-45
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• 2010

Virtual Communities, which are formed on the Internet, are expected to serve the needs of members for e-collaboration, e-communication, information and knowledge sharing. The executives of organizations should consider virtual community as a new innovation or knowledge pool since members share knowledge. However, many virtual community have failed due to members' low willingness to engage and furthermore to share knowledge with other members. Thus, there is a need to understand and foster the determinants of members' sense of belonging behavior in virtual community. This study develops an integrated model designed to investigate and explain the relationships between contextual factors, personal perceptions of virtual community, usability, trust and sense of belonging in using a certain virtual community. Empirical data was collected from 201 and tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the fit of the hypothetical model. The results show that the perceived usability and community trust of members significantly influences sense of belonging in using the virtual community, and information quality, system quality, familiarity on the virtual community are significantly influence the usability but not reputation. And I confirmed that perceived shared vision and responsiveness play the role of determinants in making the member's trust, perceived risk influence the making community trust in directly. The results of the study can be used to identify the motivation underlying members' sense of belonging in a certain virtual community by investigating the impacts of contextual factors and personal perceptions on virtual community, the integrated model better explains behavior than other proposed models. This study might help executives of virtual communities and organizations to manage and promote these determinants of sense of belonging to stimulate members' willingness to engage the community and futhermore enhance their virtual community loyalty.

• 경영정보학연구
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.325-335
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• 2001

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.181-203
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• 2015

Customers who show high level of brand loyalty are one of the most important corporate assets. Accordingly, customers' brand loyalty has been addressed as a critical issue for the business success. In today's business environment where business channels to customers have expanded and diversified continuously, especially the use of social network services (SNSs) have drawn a lot of attention as an effective channel to promote customers' brand loyalty. This study, thus, analyzes the impact of the virtual brand community identity on customers' brand loyalty, focusing on the role of the sense of communities as mediators. The analysis was conducted by using the data collected from 239 users of Chinese virtual brand communities. The results show that both virtual brand community identity and the sense of communities significantly influence on customers' brand loyalty. Furthermore, the results reveal that both of the community belongingness and community trust composing the sense of community partially mediate virtual brand community and brand loyalty as hypothesized. Based on the results, the strategic implications are suggested and discussed, focusing on improving the customers' brand loyalty in the context of SNSs. Our findings and discussions can help companies develop their customer strategies for utilizing the virtual communities to strengthen customers' brand loyalty.

• 경영정보학연구
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.71-90
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• 2003

가상공동체는 고객을 유치하고 고객 충성도를 구축하며 상거래를 활성화하는 데 중요한 역할을 수행한다고 한다. 가상공동체의 중요성이 업계 및 여러 개념연구에서 지적되어온 데 비하여 여기에 대한 마케팅 관점의 연구는 매우 부족하고, 특히 가상공동체 참여에 이르게 하는 선행변수와 그 결과에 대한 실증연구는 매우 부족한 상황에 있다. 이 연구는 이러한 배경을 인식하여 가상공동체 사용자의 참여동기가 공동체의식(Sense of Community)에 미치는 영향과 공동체의식이 당해 웹사이트에 대한 충성도 및 구매의도에 미치는 영향을 실증적으로 분석하였다. 가상공동체에 가입하여 활동하고 있는 개인을 대상으로 서베이를 실시하였고 196부의 설문지를 분석하였다. 연구 결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 참여동기는 공동체의식에 유의적 영향을 미치며, 특히 지각된 사용 용이성과 재미가 중요한 역할을 한다. 둘째, 공동체의식은 충성도에 긍정적 영향을 미치고 특히 '소속 및 유대감'은 매우 큰 역할을 수행한다. 셋째, 공동체의식은 구매의도에 직접 영향을 미치지 않는다. 넷째, 충성도는 구매의도에 한계적이지만 긍정적인 영향을 미친다.

• 지능정보연구
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.19-38
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• 2014

본 연구는 지식경영연구에서 비교적 적은 관심을 받아온 지식탐색행동인 지식브라우징(knowledge browsing)과 지식검색 (knowledge seeking)의 역할을 가상공동체 환경에서 조사하였다. 지식탐색행동이 가상공동체의식을 매개요인으로 지식공유의도와 가상공동체홍보에 양의 영향을 끼치는 선행요인으로 고려되었다. 연구가설들은 한 가상공동체의 회원들을 대상으로 한 설문조사를 기반으로 구조방정식모델을 사용하여 검증한 결과, 능동적 지식탐색행동은 가상공동체의식에 양의 관계를 보였고, 가상공동체의식은 지식공유의도와 공동체홍보에 양의 관계를 보였다. 실무자들은 본 연구를 통해 회원들의 지식탐색행동이 가상공동체의식을 함양하는 효과가 있고 결국, 지식공유활성화와 가상공동체 홍보로 이어질 수 있음을 이해할 수 있다. 따라서, 이러한 지식탐색행동을 보다 효과적으로 도울 수 있는 방안을 마련함으로써, 회원들이 가상공동체로부터 지식을 얻고, 다시 지식을 가상공동체에 공유하고 다른 사람들에게 공동체를 홍보하게 되는 가상공동체의 선순환적 발전을 꾀할 수 있다.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.57-79
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• 2010

In a virtual community, one can possess multiple identities and pretend to be different by creating self-identity in contrast with his or her actual self. Does false identity undermine the qualitative growth of a virtual community by reducing members' accountability? Or does it stimulate their contributive behaviors by ensuring freedom of speech? It is imperative to understand the effects of multi-identity considering the distinct properties of a virtual community in which people easily change their identities at little or no cost. To answer these questions, we adopted the concept of self-discrepancy from the social psychology theory rooted in the concept of the self and developed a theoretical model to predict quality of contribution of the individual member in virtual communities. Based on the self-discrepancy theory, we first identified two different domains of the self: (1) an "actual self" that consists of attributes that the person believes he or she currently possesses in real life and (2) a "cyber self" that consists of attributes the person believes he or she possesses in a virtual community. Next, we derived an index for two different types of self-discrepancy by using the differences between the actual and the cyber identities: Personal Self-discrepancy and Social Self-discrepancy. Personal Self-discrepancy reflects the degree of discrepancy between actual and cyber identity regarding a person's intelligence, education, and expertise. Social Self-discrepancy reflects the degree of discrepancy between actual and cyber identity regarding a person's morality, sociability, and accordance with social norms. Finally, we linked them with sense of virtual community, perceived privacy rights, and quality of contribution to examine how having a multi-identity influences an individual's psychological state and contributive behaviors in a virtual community. The results of the analysis based on 266 respondents showed that Social Self-discrepancy negatively influenced both the Sense of Virtual Community and Perceived Privacy Rights, while Personal Self-discrepancy negatively influenced only Perceived Privacy Rights, thereby resulting in reduced quality of contribution in virtual communities. Based on the results of this analysis, we can explain the dysfunctions of multi-identity in virtual communities. First, people who pretend to be different by engaging in socially undesirable behaviors under their alternative identities are more likely to suffer lower levels of psychological wellbeing and thus experience lower levels of sense of virtual community than others. Second, people do not perceive a high level of privacy rights reflecting catharsis, recovery, or autonomy, even though they create different selves and engage in socially undesirable behaviors in a virtual community. Third, people who pretend to be different persons in terms of their intelligence, education, or expertise also indirectly debase the quality of contribution by decreasing perceived privacy rights. The results suggest that virtual community managers should pay more attention to the negative influences exercised by multi-identity on the quality of contribution, thereby controlling the need to create alternative identities in virtual communities. We hope that more research will be conducted on this underexplored area of multi-identity and that our theoretical framework will serve as a useful conceptual tool for all endeavors.

• 지식경영연구
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.89-108
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• 2015

Social networking communities (SNCs) are media designed to facilitate social interaction using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. SNCs can constitute individuals' their own profiles in the online environment and share texts, images and photos in a variety ways. In other words, one of the other motivators is knowledge sharing. Various sites, such as Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, and Hi5 are categorized as SNCs. SNCs have become increasingly popular in recent years among youths, especially students, who use them to build social networks. This study examines whether this usage of SNCs inculcates a sense of community among their members. Several studies have examined the role of a sense of community through increased usage in the context of virtual communities. Although this result may be true of virtual communities, this paper contends that the opposite relationship prevails in the case of SNCs because members interact to build networks and are not obliged to interact. The results reveal that maintaining long-term interactions in the SNCs is helpful in building a sense of community in SNCs. Although short-term usage may not boost the development of a sense of community in SNCs, it does matter if the premise is for a long-term commitment to SNCs. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

• 한국전자거래학회지
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.49-69
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• 2006

가상커뮤니티가 기업의 효과적인 마케팅 수단으로 인식되고 있으며, 인터넷 사용자의 인터넷 사용의 주요한 동인이 되고 있음에도 가상커뮤니티 성과의 영향요인에 관한 연구가 아직까지 활발하게 진행되지 못하고 있다. 또한 현재까지 가상커뮤니티 성과의 대표적 성과변수인 사용자 충성도에 영향을 미치는 요인에 관한 연구들은 일부요인들에 대해 진행되었으나 영향요인들을 보다 종합적으로 포함하는 연구는 시도되지 못하였다. 본 연구에서는 가상커뮤니티 성과의 영향요인에 관한 통합적인 연구모형을 제시하고 이에 대한 실증분석을 행하였다. 본 연구모형에 포함된 영향요인은 가상커뮤니티 운영요소 개인특성, 유용성, 신뢰 몰입 등 5가지 변수이며 성과변수로서는 가상공동체의식, 충성도 구매의도 등 3가지이다. 실증분석을 위한 자료 수집은 가상커뮤니티 이용자를 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였고 292개의 유효한 응답설문으로 LISREL 분석을 이용하여 연구모형 및 가설검증을 실시하였다. 통계분석 결과 가상커뮤니티 운영요소 및 개인특성이 가상커뮤니티 성과의 영향요인이 될 수 있음을 확인하였다. 또한 매개변수들로서 유용성, 신뢰, 몰입이 유의한 것으로 분석되었으나 몰입과 충성도와의 관계는 유의하지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 마지막으로 성과 변수들 간의 인과관계가 모두 지지되었지만, 성과변수들 중 가상공동체의식의 경우는 새로운 지표의 개발이 필요한 것으로 밝혀졌다.

• 한국콘텐츠학회논문지
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• 제10권8호
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• pp.360-369
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• 2010

본 연구는 온라인 커뮤니티에서 개인의 프라이버시 염려와 자아불일치 및 커뮤니티의 공동체 의식과의 관계를 고찰해 보고자 한 것이었다. 먼저, 개인의 프라이버시 염려가 자아불일치에 미치는 영향을 살펴보고, 인터넷 사용기간의 조절효과를 분석해 보기로 하였다. 기존 연구를 기반으로 하여 본 연구에서 사용된 개인의 프라이버시 염려 요인은 정보에 대한 수집, 통제, 인식을 고려하였으며, 커뮤니티에 대한 공동체 의식 요인은 소속감과 몰입감을 고려하였다. 온라인 커뮤니티 이용자를 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였으며, 조절효과를 검정하기 위해 계층적 회귀분석을 이용하였다. 연구 결과, 프라이버시 염려 중 정보에 대한 수집, 통제, 인식의 요인 중 인식의 요인만이 자아불일치에 부(-)의 영향을 주는 것으로 조사되었다. 이때 인터넷 사용기간은 정보의 인식 및 통제가 자아불일치에 주는 영향력을 조절하는 요인인 것으로 조사되었다. 다음으로, 온라인과 오프라인에서의 자아불일치가 커뮤니티에 대한 소속감과 몰입감에 미치는 영향을 분석한 결과, 자아불일치가 소속감에는 부(-)의 영향을 주지만, 몰입감에는 영향을 주지 않는 것으로 나타났다.

• 한국정보시스템학회지:정보시스템연구
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.41-72
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• 2019

Purpose Virtual communities (VCs) are becoming ever more important in these days, sometimes more than offline communities. Notably, they have become significant sources of knowledge sharing. Therefore, in order to foster a VC, it is very important to understand why people share their knowledge in the VC. Under this background, this paper aims at proposing the behavioral model best explains knowledge sharing activities in VCs. Design/methodology/approach We basically design our behavioral model for knowledge sharing in VCs based on theory of reasoned action (TRA). However, to understand knowledge sharing in VCs better, we specify knowledge sharing by dividing it into knowledge contribution and knowledge use. Also, instead of 'subjective norm', we adopt 'sense of virtual community (SOVC)' as a main social factor, which has been found to be important in the literature. We also include the antecedents such as 'quality of the shared knowledge', 'trust in community members', 'passion of the community leader', 'reciprocity', and 'self efficacy', which affect VC users' attitude towards knowledge sharing and SOVC. To test the hypotheses in our proposed model, we collected 253 valid surveys from the VC users. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 23 is employed to assess the relationships proposed as the hypotheses. Findings Major findings are as follows. SOVC positively affects both intention to contribute knowledge and intention to use knowledge. And, trust in community members positively affects the attitude towards knowledge use and SOVC. The attitude towards knowledge use is also affected by the quality of the shared knowledge. Reciprocity is found to strongly positively affect the attitude towards knowledge contribution. However, passion of the community leader and self efficacy are found to have insignificant effect on SOVC and the attitude towards knowledge contribution respectively. Our study sheds a light on how to foster VCs from the perspective of knowledge management.