Effects of Person–Environment Fit on Users’ Willingness to Contribute Knowledge in Virtual Brand Communities

Abstract

Virtual brand communities and users’ knowledge contributions have become strategic resources for enterprises. It is of great significance to explore the driving mechanism of users’ willingness to contribute knowledge in virtual brand communities to promote the sustainable development of enterprises. Previous studies on the potential drivers of users’ willingness to contribute knowledge placed a great emphasis on either communities or users alone but overlooked the synergistic effects generated by both. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of person–environment fit on users’ willingness to contribute knowledge. Based on two theories, we develop and test a mediation model to investigate the effects of person–environment (P–E) fit and psychological contract fulfillment on users’ willingness to contribute knowledge in virtual brand communities. Hierarchical regression methods and bootstrap analysis were used to examine data collected from 287 online survey responses. The results indicate that the three constructs of P–E fit, including values–culture (V–C) fit, needs–supplies (N–S) fit and demands–abilities (D–A) fit, have significant positive effects on users’ willingness to contribute knowledge, and transactional and relational psychological contract fulfillments partially mediate these relationships. We provide some theoretical contributions to explore users’ willingness to contribute knowledge in virtual brand communities, and practical implications are also offered. The limitation of this study is that it does not consider the influence of users’ willingness to contribute with regard to actual contribution behavior.