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Sense of Virtual Community: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Validation

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Joon Koh at Chonnam National University
Joon Koh
Young-Gul Kim
Young-Gul Kim
Young-Gul Kim
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In this article, we introduce the "sense of virtual community" construct and explore the factors that are expected to affect it. We also examine the moderating effect of the virtual community origin. By analyzing 172 responses, we found that the sense of virtual community is affected by the virtual community characteristics such as (1) leaders' enthusiasm, (2) perceived similarity, (3) off-line activities, and (4) playfulness. From the moderated regression analysis, we also found that the virtual community origin moderates the relationship between virtual community characteristics and sense of virtual community.
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1
Sense of Virtual Community: Conceptual Framework
and Empirical Validation
Joon Koh* and Young-Gul Kim**
KAIST Graduate School of Management
E-mail: kjoon@kgsm.kaist.ac.kr*, domino2@unitel.co.kr**
TEL: 02-958-3674
Abstract
In this article, we introduce the “sense of virtual community” construct and explore the factors that
are expected to affect it. We also examine the moderating effect of the virtual community origin. By
analyzing 172 responses, we found that the sense of virtual community is affected by the virtual
community characteristics such as (1) leaders’ enthusiasm, (2) perceived similarity, (3) off-line activities,
and (4) playfulness. From the moderated regression analysis, we also found that the virtual community
origin moderates the relationship between virtual community characteristics and sense of virtual
community.
1. Introduction
As the internet coverage broadens rapidly, the virtual community, has become a topic of interest to
IT professionals and management researchers [e.g., Jones, 2000]. Despite the explosive growth of virtual
communities on the internet, limited empirical research has been conducted to study the issues related to
the psychological states of the virtual community members.
The objective of this study is to enhance the existing knowledge about virtual community by
introducing a new construct, sense of virtual community, and empirically validating the effects of virtual
community characteristics on the sense of virtual community. We draw from the relevant literature and
focus on developing a conceptual foundation for understanding virtual community. More specifically, this
study intends to answer the following questions:
• What is the sense of virtual community? Is there any unique property differentiating it from that of
a traditional community?
2
• What are the key factors affecting the sense of virtual community at the individual level?
• Does the origin of virtual community moderate the relationship between virtual community
characteristics and sense of virtual community?
2. Sense of Virtual Community, and Virtual Community Origin
Computer-mediated community environments need commitment of their members just like the
traditional environment, based on the fact that we understand virtual community to be “a community
extended via emerging technologies.” Among the four elements (membership, influence, integration, and
emotional connection) that McMillan & Chavis [1986] regarded as the components of sense of
community, membership and influence are considered as common perception factors in both the virtual
and traditional communities. Reflecting the unique characteristics of the virtual space, we introduce a new
dimension of immersion, using an expanded concept of flow [Csikszentimihalyi, 1975; Hoffman & Novak,
1996]. Thus, sense of virtual community is treated as having three dimensions: (1) membership−people
experience feelings of belonging to their virtual community, (2) influence−people influence other
members or their community, and (3) immersion−people feel the state of flow during virtual community
navigation. We define sense of virtual community as the psychological state of perceiving three
dimensions of membership, influence, and immersion, formed through the activities of virtual community.
With respect to the virtual community origin, virtual communities can be dichotomized as online
originated and offline originated. We are interested in examining the moderating role of the virtual
community origin on the proposed relationships between virtual community characteristics and sense of
virtual community.
3. Research Model and Hypotheses
We concentrate our efforts on developing a conceptual foundation for understanding a virtual
community, introducing sense of virtual community, its determinants, and the moderating variable. The
model for this research is shown in Fig. 1.
Leaders’ enthusiasm helps members feel that the virtual community is activated, and it also fosters
them to pay attention to the virtual community [Kim, 2000]. Some practitioners even argue that, with only
one passionate leader, a virtual community can be activated and its members get to participate actively in
the community activities. Even though leadership necessary for virtual communities may differ from
traditional leadership, leaders’ enthusiasm is expected to influence community members to feel greater
membership toward the community.
Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship between leaders’ enthusiasm and membership.
3
Fig. 1. Research model
Leaders’ Enthusiasm
Similarity
Offline Activities
Playfulness
Immersion
Influence
Membership
Sense of
Virtual Community
Virtual Community
Characteristics
Virtual Community
Origin
H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
H7
H8 H9 H10
Exclusion of non-members is a characteristic of the virtual space as is in the real world, and is
related to a concept of perceived boundaries in the real life [McMillan & Chavis, 1986]. In-group
members are distinguished from out-group members through scarcity of resources. A group based on
similar interests tends to exclude strangers, which keeps the community homogenous. We can take the
closed user group (CUG) as an example. Since most of the virtual communities have been formed, based
on similar interests and themes, similarity perception is important for reinforcing membership within a
virtual community [Sarason, 1974].
Hypothesis 2: There is a positive relationship between similarity and membership.
Offline meetings can play a role in complementing the low social presence inherent of most
computer-mediated environments [Lombard & Ditton, 1997]. Kiesler et al. [1984] argued that balancing
online with offline activities is critical in sustaining a virtual community, implying that use of diverse
communication channels may be effective in the computer-mediated environment. While Walther [1995]
argues that on-line interactions are as sociable and intimate as in-person interactions over time, we
believe that off-line meetings will help facilitate the virtual community activism and lead to higher sense
of virtual community.
Hypothesis 3: There is a positive relationship between offline activities and membership.
Hypothesis 4: There is a positive relationship between offline activities and influence.
Hypothesis 5: There is a positive relationship between offline activities and immersion.
We also propose that playfulness is a useful construct for understanding individuals’ evaluation and
4
affection of virtual communities. Previous research has revealed that attitudinal outcomes such as
emotion, pleasure, and satisfaction result from the playfulness experience [Csikszentimihalyi, 1975].
Playfulness will affect flow−immersion by human-machine interaction [Griffiths, 1998]. Furthermore,
playfulness lets members perceive influence on other members or on their community because it contains
interactions among members or between members and their community. Consequently, when a virtual
community provides entertainment value for its members in the online context, it would be more likely to
be activated [Moon & Kim, 2001].
Hypothesis 6: There is a positive relationship between playfulness and influence.
Hypothesis 7: There is a positive relationship between playfulness and immersion.
As mentioned above, virtual communities are classified into two types. Online originated virtual
communities are launched based on the common interests and themes communicated via computer-
mediated communications. Weak ties are mostly observed in the initial stage [Wellman & Gulia, 1999].
For example, membership and influence are likely to be low in the early stage of the online originated
virtual community. On the other hand, social relationship in an offline originated virtual community tends
to be strong even at the beginning of the online-communication due to prior offline interactions
[Blumstein & Kollock, 1988]. Therefore, higher levels of leaders’ efforts and offline activities are
necessary for increasing membership and influence in the case of online originated virtual communities
than in the case of offline originated virtual communities. Besides, online originated virtual communities
are probably relatively homogenous in their interests and attitudes while being heterogeneous in terms of
the participants’ age, gender, social class, ethnicity, and other aspects of their demography [Wellman &
Gulia, 1999]. The homogenous interests of online originated virtual community members may foster a
relatively high level of empathetic understanding and mutual support [Marsden, 1983]. Hence, perceived
similarity with the interests and values will affect membership more strongly in the case of the online
originated virtual community than in the case of the offline originated virtual community. Additionally,
immersion is generated by the online oriented communications [Young, 1996] that the online originated
virtual community depends on. It is unlikely that the offline originated virtual community will incur high
level of immersion of members because it mainly depends on the cognitive mechanisms already formed
by the prior face-to-face communication. Thus, affecting factors seem to influence immersion more
strongly in the case of the online originated virtual community than in the case of the offline originated
virtual community.
On the basis of the above discussion, we derived the following hypotheses to validate the moderating
effect of the virtual community origin on the basic relationships between virtual community
characteristics and sense of virtual community.
Hypothesis 8: The virtual community origin moderates the relationship between virtual community
characteristics and membership.
5
Hypothesis 9: The virtual community origin moderates the relationship between virtual community
characteristics and influence.
Hypothesis 10: The virtual community origin moderates the relationship between virtual community
characteristics and immersion.
4. Methods and Results
We developed the instruments for our variables based on the relevant literature and the results of the
prior interviews with the system operators (sysops) of the four representative virtual communities in
Korea. With the questionnaire modified through the pre-testing, we selected 44 virtual communities that
have been recognized as the popular virtual community sites in Korea and distributed 220 questionnaires,
assigning 5 questionnaires to each community. From the 220 questionnaires that were distributed, 172
usable
1
questionnaires were received and used for analysis. The response rate was 78 percent. In terms of
gender and age of the respondents, 47 percent of them were male, and 71 percent were less than 26 years
old. In addition, 92 respondents were enrolled in the on-line originated virtual community, and 80
individuals were members of the off-line originated virtual communities.
We conducted the factor analysis, the reliability test, the multiple regression analyses, the moderated
regression analyses [Atuahene-Gima & Li, 2000] and others. First, all instruments demonstrated high
convergent and discriminant validity and their Cronbach’s alpha values were all satisfactory, ranged from
0.742 to 0.930. Conducting the multiple regression analyses, virtual community characteristics affecting
the sense of virtual community were detected at the individual level (See Table 1). Membership was
significantly affected by (1) leaders’ enthusiasm, (2) perceived similarity, and (3) offline activities.
Offline activities had the strongest impact on membership and influence in the virtual community. It is
consistent with the results of the prior studies that strong ties cannot be sustained without physical cues
[e.g., Beniger, 1987]. However, the variable of offline activities does not seem to be a significant factor
affecting immersion. We interpret this to mean that offline activities incur two effects: one is fostering
members to commit to the community and the other is preventing them from becoming fully immersed in
the community online activity. We presume that the two contradicting effects of offline activities on
immersion might cancel each other and suggest that further research will be necessary for developing a
relevant contingency theory. Immersion was influenced only by playfulness, while perceived influence
was significantly affected by offline activities and playfulness. The result implies that a virtual community
should find and meet the needs of its members, supporting Kim’s [2000] observations that successful
communities evolve to keep pace with the changing needs of their members. It also suggests that virtual
communities should encourage their members to meet each other in the offline setting, so that their
members may perceive high influence.
1
Six irrelevant questionnaires returned were discarded
6
Table 1: Results of hypotheses tests (From H1 to H7)
Model R
2
F
β
Results
(1) Membership (MEM)
MEM = E + S + O + errors 0.592 80.753***
E 0.219*** H1 was supported.
S 0.255*** H2 was supported.
O 0.475*** H3 was supported.
(2) Influence (INF)
INF = O + P + errors 0.478 77.307***
O 0.631*** H4 was supported.
P 0.129** H6 was supported.
(3) Immersion (IMM)
IMM = O + P + errors 0.159 15.802***
O - 0.007 H5 was rejected.
P 0.402*** H7 was supported.
**p<0.05; ***p<0.01
(Note) E, Leaders’ enthusiasm; S, Similarity; O, Offline activities; P, Playfulness.
Another important finding of this study is that the impacts of virtual community characteristics on
the sense of virtual community are contingent on the virtual community origin (See Table 2 for models of
moderated regression analyses and Table 3 for results of it). Both leaders’ enthusiasm and similarity
affected membership more strongly in the case of an online originated virtual community than in the case
of an offline originated one (Hypothesis 8 is supported). Also, offline activities affected influence more
strongly in the online originated virtual community than in the offline originated one, which supports
Hypothesis 9. The results imply that in the case of an online originated virtual community, practitioners
should concentrate more on empowering active leaders, enhancing perceived similarity with other
members, fostering interactions between members and holding various events in an offline setting.
However, in another moderated regression analysis in terms of immersion, no significant increased R
2
was
found (Hypothesis 10 is not supported).
Table 2: Models for moderated regression analyses
(Note) MEM, Membership; INF, Influence; IMM, Immersion; E, Leaders’ enthusiasm; S, Similarity; O,
Offline activities; P, Playfulness; CO, Community Origin.
Models for moderated regression analyses Related Hypothesis
Model 1:
MEM = E + S + O + CO + E × CO + S × CO + O × CO + errors
Model 2:
INF = O + P + CO + O × CO + P × CO + errors
Model 3:
IMM = O + P + CO + O × CO + P × CO + errors
Hypothesis 8
Hypothesis 9
Hypothesis 10
7
Table 3: Results of moderated regression analyses: Moderating effects of the community origin (CO) on
sense of virtual community
Standardized Regression coefficient (β)
Membership
(Model 1)
Influence
(Model 2)
Immersion
(Model 3)
Independent variables
Enthusiasm 0.279*** N/A N/A
Similarity 0.347*** N/A N/A
Offline activities 0.503*** 0.838*** 0.142
Playfulness N/A 0.166** 0.344***
Moderator variables
Community Origin (CO) 0.786*** 0.387 - 0.442
R
2
0.600 0.480 0.248
Interaction effects
CO × Enthusiasm
- 0.323* N/A N/A
CO × Similarity
- 0.368* N/A N/A
CO × Offline activities
- 0.121 - 0.510*** - 0.123
CO × Playfulness
N/A - 0.076 0.230
Incremental R
2
0.034 0.041 0.003
F Change 5.097 7.121 0.289
Significance of F change 0.002 0.001 0.749
Full Model
R
2
0.634 0.521 0.251
Adjusted R
2
0.618 0.507 0.228
F-value 40.372*** 36.139*** 10.968***
d/f 7/163 5/166 5/164
*p<0.1; ** p<0.05; ***p<0.01
5. Conclusions
In this study, we proposed and validated that the sense of virtual community construct is composed of
three dimensions: membership, influence, and immersion. Besides, we found that the sense of virtual
community is affected by (1) leaders’ enthusiasm, (2) perceived similarity, (3) offline activities, and (4)
playfulness. We also validated that the effect of virtual community characteristics (leaders’ effort,
similarity, offline activities and playfulness) on sense of virtual community is contingent on the virtual
community origin.
For the researchers on virtual community, we suggest to explore objective and behavior-oriented
outcome variables such as frequency of visit, duration time, or organizational citizenship behaviors for
8
future research. We suspect that the sense of virtual community may mediate the links between
independent variables and such outcome behaviors. To be able to trace such link over time, a longitudinal
study may need to be conducted that observes the same set of virtual communities over time.
Since the data was collected only in Korea and the target communities were chosen with a
convenient sampling method, the general applicability of the findings is limited. Nevertheless, we believe
that establishing the sense of virtual community construct provides a valuable perspective for in-depth
understanding of virtual community and its members’ behaviors.
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  • Nov 2022
As new coronavirus variants continue to emerge, in order to better address vaccine-related concerns and promote vaccine uptake in the next few years, the role played by online communities in shaping individuals’ vaccine attitudes has become an important lesson for public health practitioners and policymakers to learn. Examining the mechanism that underpins the impact of participating in online communities on the attitude toward COVID-19 vaccines, this study adopted a two-stage hybrid structural equation modeling (SEM)-artificial neural networks (ANN) approach to analyze the survey responses from 1037 Reddit community members. Findings from SEM demonstrated that in leading up to positive COVID-19 vaccine attitudes, sense of online community mediates the positive effects of perceived emotional support and social media usage, and perceived social norm mediates the positive effect of sense of online community as well as the negative effect of political conservatism. Health self-efficacy plays a moderating role between perceived emotional support and perceived social norm of COVID-19 vaccination. Results from the ANN model showed that online community members’ perceived social norm of COVID-19 vaccination acts as the most important predictor of positive COVID-19 vaccine attitudes. This study highlights the importance of harnessing online communities in designing COVID-related public health interventions and accelerating normative change in relation to vaccination.
... A complete virtual learning community mostly has basic elements such as history, identity, interdependence, diversity, autonomy, participation, social etiquette, reflection, and learning [27] . Numerous studies have shown that a collaborative web-based learning environment leads to a stronger sense of community and engagement among community members, can promote interaction among members [28,29] and facilitate members' understanding of knowledge [30] . In recent years, there have been many cases where this has been attempted, the more typical ones being: 1) Sloodle, which features a virtual community, integrates the Moodle learning management system with the Second Life game, it is convenient for users to participate in community interaction at any time, as shown in Figure 3. ...
Open another door to education—Applications, challenges and perspectives of the educational metaverse
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2022
p>The metaverse is a new form of the future of the Internet that integrates many new technologies, and its combination with the education sector has great potential. The article firstly points out that metaverse is a concept that is constantly developing and evolving, while the educational metaverse has three core features: interactivity, immersion and multiplicity, and introduces the six underlying supporting technologies and application scenarios of the educational metaverse. The article then presents the current development of the educational metaverse represented by the VR/AR learning environment, starting with case studies from the fields of subject education, informal learning and vocational training. Finally, the article analyses the problems and challenges faced by the educational metaverse and makes suggestions for the initial development of the educational metaverse in terms of mechanism, technology and teaching. The educational meta-universe opens another door to the study of the complexity of educational systems and the laws of educational occurrence and development, while the study of its applications, challenges and perspectives gives direction and impetus to the development of the educational meta-universe.</p
... A complete virtual learning community mostly has basic elements such as history, identity, interdependence, diversity, autonomy, participation, social etiquette, reflection, and learning [27] . Numerous studies have shown that a collaborative web-based learning environment leads to a stronger sense of community and engagement among community members, can promote interaction among members [28,29] and facilitate members' understanding of knowledge [30] . In recent years, there have been many cases where this has been attempted, the more typical ones being: 1) Sloodle, which features a virtual community, integrates the Moodle learning management system with the Second Life game, it is convenient for users to participate in community interaction at any time, as shown in Figure 3. ...
Open another door to education—Applications, challenges and perspectives of the educational metaverse
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2022
p>The metaverse is a new form of the future of the Internet that integrates many new technologies, and its combination with the education sector has great potential. The article firstly points out that metaverse is a concept that is constantly developing and evolving, while the educational metaverse has three core features: interactivity, immersion and multiplicity, and introduces the six underlying supporting technologies and application scenarios of the educational metaverse. The article then presents the current development of the educational metaverse represented by the VR/AR learning environment, starting with case studies from the fields of subject education, informal learning and vocational training. Finally, the article analyses the problems and challenges faced by the educational metaverse and makes suggestions for the initial development of the educational metaverse in terms of mechanism, technology and teaching. The educational meta-universe opens another door to the study of the complexity of educational systems and the laws of educational occurrence and development, while the study of its applications, challenges and perspectives gives direction and impetus to the development of the educational meta-universe.</p
... Community refers to the feeling of membership and belonging within a group (Yuan & Kim, 2014). Three dimensions of community has been defined: membership, influence, and immersion (Koh & Kim, 2003). Membership refers to people's feeling of belonging to their virtual community, influence means people's influences on other members of their community, and finally immersion refers to people's state of flow during virtual community navigation. ...
Students’ sense of community and perspectives of taking synchronous and asynchronous online courses
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2020
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has forced all universities in China to shut campuses and moved to distance learning in response to epidemic prevention and control. This is the first time that college courses have been completely delivered online across the nation. Therefore, this study examines Chinese college students’ sense of community and their perspectives of taking online courses in synchronous and asynchronous teaching formats. A total of 1189 students participated in the study from a northeastern university in China. Results indicate that students have a stronger sense of community towards interacting, discussing, and sharing ideas in asynchronous online courses. Findings also highlight the benefits and challenges of taking courses in these two distance learning formats. It is expected that this study would enlighten Chinese higher education professionals to develop a tight online community and establish a supportive distance learning environment.
Encouraging physicians' continuous knowledge-sharing in online health communities: A motivational perspective
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2022
Online health communities (OHCs) as an essential means of patient education can significantly improve patients' health literacy and treatment outcomes. However, sustaining these social benefits brought by OHCs establishes the prerequisite that physicians can continuously share their knowledge on OHCs. Although previous studies have explored physicians' knowledge-sharing in OHCs, scholarly knowledge related to the means of motivating physicians to continue sharing their knowledge remains limited. Therefore, this study developed a research model based on motivation theory to explore the influence of practical benefits, psychological rewards, and perceived connectedness with OHCs on physicians' continuous knowledge-sharing behaviors and the contingent role of physicians' online seniority status. The research model and relevant hypotheses were examined using objective data from one of the leading OHCs in China. The empirical results reveal that both practical benefits and psychological rewards positively affect physicians' continuous knowledge-sharing behaviors. However, an unexpected finding is that perceived connectedness is negatively associated with physicians' continuous knowledge-sharing behaviors. In addition, physicians' online seniority status strengthens the relationship between practical benefits and continuous knowledge-sharing behaviors but weaken the role of psychological rewards and perceived connectedness on continuous knowledge-sharing behaviors. This study contributes to the understanding of the motivational mechanisms underlying physicians' continuous knowledge-sharing behaviors in OHCs and provides significant practical implications for practitioners of OHCs.
How does consumer-to-consumer community interaction affect brand trust?
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2022
This article seeks to study how the extensive usage of social networking sites (SNSs) and interaction in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) communities influence brand trust. Social networking sites have impacted internet commerce in a technologically advanced era; it connects global users. Social media ads have changed our thinking; new market trends are reshaping the business industry. This study empirically investigates a model based on media richness theory and social capital theory. Using data collected from users who conducted transactions on these sites, a theoretical model was developed to analyze the inspirations behind trust. The results show that Instagram’s media-rich platform enhances social capital and a sense of virtual community between its members, affecting trust. Instagram usage intensity does not immediately affect brand trust, but it has an indirect effect; community trust also positively influences brand trust. This study defines the role of a sense of virtual community (SOVC) and social capital (SC) in C2C communities only. This study delivers insights to managers on how to increase brand trust via SNSs. Prior studies on social commerce do not apply to C2C communities on social media platforms, especially Instagram. This study presents a novel standpoint of social capital and media richness structures as precursors of brand trust in C2C communities.
From Radio Guarachita to El Tieto eShow : Bachata’s Imagined Communities
Article
Full-text available
Bachata has used mass media throughout its history to foster a sense of inclusion and community among fans, from Radio Guarachita in the 1960s to livestreaming on social media in the twenty-first century. This article considers how the Dominican Facebook Live program, El Tieto eShow , continues bachata’s intimate relationship with mass media through the creation and development of a virtual imagined community of bachata enthusiasts around the globe. The article explores how the cultural roots of the imagined community—the decline of sacred languages and societal high centers and the acceptance of calendrical over sacred time—contribute to this sense of group among El Tieto eShow ’s worldwide audience. It also considers the importance of this type of virtual fan community in propagating a sense of proximity to each other and musicians.
Relational Aspects of Computer-Mediated Communication
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 1995
Previous research on the interpersonal effects of computer-mediated communication (CMC) reveals inconsistencies. In some cases CMC has been found to be impersonal, task-oriented, and hostile. Other reports show warm personal relations, and still others show gradual adjustments in interpersonal relations over time. The past research results are also difficult to compare, as their research methods reveal inconsistent approaches. These inconsistencies include the treatment of time limits on group development, the neglect of nonverbal behavior in face-to-face, comparison groups, and other measurement issues. Each of these factors may obscure our understanding of the way CMC partners get to know and come to relate to each other through CMC. The present study attempts to address some of these concerns. This study explored the effects of computer conferencing on the interpersonal messages with which people define their relationships, known as relational communication. Observers rated the relational communication from transcripts of CMC conversations or from videotapes of face-to-face three-person groups who had worked in several sessions. Analyses showed that CMC groups achieved more positive levels on several dimensions of interpersonal communication than did face-to-face groups. On other dimensions, no differences between conditions were found. In no case did CMC groups express less intimacy or more task-orientation than face-to-face groups. Implications are drawn suggesting that under certain conditions, CMC may promote positive relational effects in ways that previous theories have not considered, and in some ways superior to more traditional media.
Virtual Internet Communities and Commercial Success: Individual and Community-Level Theory Grounded in the Atypical Case of TimeZone.com
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2001
One potentially powerful way of organizing in the new Internet world is through the medium of the virtual Internet community. An effectively managed virtual community provides economic gains to the community organizer and to its members. We attempt to build theory grounded in the study of TimeZone.com, a virtual Internet community devoted to wristwatch hobbyists and enthusiasts. We argue that a member’s off-site communication, experience, perceived value of site management, content, and collectively held knowledge are positively associated with a member’s e-based economic transactions within this virtual community. Building on our theorizing attempts at the individual level, we develop propositions at the organizational level that relate characteristics of virtual Internet communities (membership size, scalability, and level of site management) to commercial success.
Virtual Communities and Social Capital
Article
Full-text available
Robert Putnam (1993) has developed a theory of social capital to explain the effect of decreasing community participation and civic engagement on declining institutional performance. Subsequently, there has been much speculation as to whether emerging virtual communities can counteract this trend. We apply the findings of computer-mediated communication and virtual communities to the networks, norms, and trust of social capital and also examine the possible effects of virtual communities on the privatization of leisure time. We conclude that social capital and civic engagement will increase when virtual communities develop around physically based communities and when these virtual communi- ties foster additional communities of interest. Through a preliminary analysis, we identified potential communities of interest including education, exchange of general community information, and opportunities for government and political participation. We conclude with a discussion of current trends and research needs. The lack of citizen participation in the community has recently come under scrutiny. Although this trend may have started at least a century ago (Wellman and Gulia 1999), it is only lately that the implications of this decline in community participation have been more fully explored. Besides negatively affecting a person's affiliation with his or her own neighborhood, this lack of community has also been cited as a major reason for the decline in civic involvement which helps communities operate (Putnam, 1993). Putnam has developed a theory of social capital that attempts to explain the relationship between citizen engagement in the community and the performance of the government and other social institutions. Although Putnam's theory is by no means unchallenged (Greeley, 1996), it has
Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments: Conceptual Foundations
Article
The authors address the role of marketing in hypermedia computer-mediated environments (CMEs). Their approach considers hypermedia CMEs to be large-scale (i.e., national or global) networked environments, of which the World Wide Web on the Internet is the first and current global implementation. They introduce marketers to this revolutionary new medium, propose a structural model of consumer navigation behavior in a CME that incorporates the notion of flow, and examine a series of research issues and marketing implications that follow from the model.
Restricted Access in Networks and Models of Power
Article
  • Jan 1983
This paper modifies the model of purposive action proposed by Coleman to encompass circumstances in which actors have imperfect access to one another. An access network indicating the available channels for exchange is introduced; it creates discrepancies in the number of alternative exchange relationships available to different actors. The connection of two ideas-Emerson's notion that dependency of one actor on another is inversely related to the first actor's number of alternative exchange relationships and Coleman's conception of dependency in terms of the control of one actor's interests by another-permits the introduction of what is termed "price-making behavior." This allows actors favorably situated in the access network to inflate the exchange value of their resources in transactions wi peripheral actors. Effects of the modifications are investigated by means of artificial data; the effects include shifts in the equilibrium distribution of power among actors, in the levels of resource transfer amo...