Communal and Exchange Relationships and the Effects of Norms on Internet Participation

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a significant rise in the popularity of Web 2.0 applications. Our purpose was to examine the behaviors of Internet users. Voluntary participants (N = 691) were recruited through banners posted on a leading commercial website in Taiwan and were randomly allocated to 7 groups. The between-participants experimental design included 3 forms of payment crossed with 2 levels of payment, and a control condition with no payment. We found that behaviors on the Internet are linked to norms that are followed according to communal or exchange relationships during participation. Therefore, the distinction of communal and exchange relationships can be important in understanding user behaviors on the Internet.