Media system dependency and user attachment in social Q&A communities

Do active users and lurkers differ

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21595877
AutoresXiabing Zheng (0000-0001-7623-5920, University of Science and Technology of China), Xiao Shi (0000-0002-4124-869X, University of Science and Technology of China), Feng Yang (0009-0008-1432-2234, University of Science and Technology of China)
Año2021
Volumen34
Número7
Páginas1863-1889
Fecha de publicación2021-11-18
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInformation Technology and People (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0959-3845 • E-ISSN: 1758-5813
EditorialEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/itp-12-2019-0628
OpenAlexW3092849950
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas90

Purpose This study aims at exploring users' motives to form attachments within the social Q&A community context and identifying the differences between active users and lurkers when building emotional attachments. By utilizing the media system dependency (MSD) theory, this study investigates into the driving factors of dependency relations (understanding, orientation and play) to user attachments (i.e. attachment to the social Q&A community, attachment to content creators). Design/methodology/approach The research model is empirically validated by an online questionnaire among users of a social Q&A community. Deriving from the actual behavioral data, the authors divide 262 valid responses into 157 active users and 105 lurkers according to whether they post or not. The partial least squares (PLS) method is exploited to analyze the relationships in the model. In addition, the PLS-based multi-group analysis is conducted for comparing active users and lurkers. Findings The empirical results confirm that dependency relations (understanding, orientation and play) significantly influence user attachments. Multi-group analysis suggests that the effect of understanding dependency relations on attachment to content creators is stronger for active users than for lurkers. However, the effect of orientation dependency relations on user attachment is significant for lurkers but not significant for active users. Originality/value This study enriches the knowledge of the MSD theory by extending it to the social Q&A community setting. Based on the MSD theory, the relationships between three sides of dependency relations and two types of user attachments are hypothesized in the research model. Besides, the impact of user heterogeneity in building user emotional attachment still lacks consideration. This study is one of the first in the field of comparison studies to compare active users and lurkers in such context, providing a novel contribution in understanding the motivations and emotional responses of different users

Knowledge management · Online community · Originality · The Internet · Virtual community · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Knowledge Management and Sharing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Technology Adoption and User Behaviour · Artificial Intelligence