Understanding the sustainability of a virtual community: model development and empirical test

Abstract

With the proliferation of Web 2.0 technologies, there is an expanded opportunity for individuals to get involved in information exchange. In this study, the sustainability of a virtual community for teachers and educators were investigated. The research model borrows the key concepts from the IS continuance model, social influence theory, the uses and gratifications paradigm, and relationship marketing to explain user intention to continue using a virtual community, as well as intention to recommend the community to others. Satisfaction, commitment, group norms are found to have significant impacts on intention to continue using and intention to recommend. Among the three factors, satisfaction has the highest impact on behavioral intentions. Individual-related factors (purposive value and self-discovery) are found to have significant impacts on user satisfaction, while social-related factors are more important in determining commitment and group norms. The results of this study provide important implications for both research and practice.