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The purpose of this paper is to show that numerous studies have advanced social capital research over the past decade. Most studies have accepted the theoretical distinction between bonding and bridging social capital networks. Many, however, tend to agglomerate empirical research under the one catch‐all social capital concept, rather than classifying it according to the bonding/bridging distinction. Furthermore, most studies make little distinction on the basis of methodology, between qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigating social capital. These omissions need to be addressed.

This paper reviews definitions and applications of bridging and bonding social capital, classifies empirical studies according to each network type, and produces a further breakdown according to methodological approach.

The result is a four‐part “grid” of social capital research, encompassing bonding and bridging, and quantitative and qualitative aspects. This paper finds that most qualitative research examines non‐excludable and excludable goods and is relevant to bonding social capital, whilst most quantitative analysis looks at civic networks and norms of trust, and relates to bridging social capital.

Results advance the task of clarifying and measuring social capital.

Further development of the bridging/bonding social capital conceptual pair should allow for a more precise measurement of a community, or region.

No review paper to date captures the above empirical and methodological “grid” clearly.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how bonding (i.e. tightly knit, emotionally close social relationships) and bridging social capital (i.e. outward looking open social relationships) affect opportunity recognition and innovation implementation in a cultural network of firms, investigating the main benefits of and drawbacks to both bonding and bridging social capital.

The paper is based on a case study of a cultural network of firms which share the same norms, principles and values. The method adopted is content analysis of qualitative data.

The authors find that in cultural network bridging social capital facilitates experimentation and combination of ideas from distant sources, while bonding social capital, which underpins the need for more conformity, is more effective for supporting innovation implementation. Innovation results from the interplay between the two dimensions of social capital, and each dimension contributes to the final outcome in a distinct and unique way.

There are some limitations which arise from the case study methodology; the limited set of industries analysed affects the generalizability of the findings.

The research has some practical implications for firms that belong to cultural networks. It offers suggestions about how to manage social relationships in different stages of the innovation process.

The authors examine the effects of bonding and bridging social capital on innovation in a cultural network of firms. The authors show that in a cultural network, different moments in the innovation process require different efforts related to the firm’s network relationships.

The paper aims to propose a conceptualization of two types of team social capital: team-bonding and team-bridging social capital. Throughout the conceptual effort, the paper provides suggestions for future research avenues that link team social capital, as a distinct team-level construct, with other team research topics.

The conceptualization of team social capital is based on a review and synthesis of prior research about social networks. The propositions about the relationships of team social capital with other team process and effectiveness variables are developed within the classical input-mediator-output framework.

The conceptualizations of team-bonding and team-bridging social capital and the common measures for each are provided. Moreover, a series of testable propositions regarding the associations between team social capital and team process, the influence of team social capital on team effectiveness and the antecedents of team social capital are made.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.

This paper elaborates the concept of team social capital and specifies its implications to various team phenomena. With this conceptual effort, this paper has advanced our knowledge about the nature and role of team social capital in team research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of social capital with bonding and bridging distinction in promoting higher participation in collective action in participatory irrigation management.

A sample of 304 farmers was surveyed using a structured questionnaire. A focus group discussion was also carried out with randomly selected water users, leaders and irrigation officers. A confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to test the hypothesised relationship of bonding and bridging social capital towards collective action.

The findings show that social capital has a significant direct effect on collective action and an indirect effect on joint irrigation management's perceived performance through collective action (mediator). It implies the need to complement the participatory irrigation management programme with an understanding of the social aspects for a higher farmer's participation over the shared resource.

The paper emphasises social capital's role in facilitating a real participatory engagement in shared resource management. Also, it is the first scholarly work linking social capital with bonding and bridging distinction towards collective action in a joint resource management context.

This paper fulfills a prominent need to examine some overlooked predictors of consumer engagement in an online setting. This study aims to explore whether and how consumer e-empowerment mediates the influence of social capital (bonding and bridging) on consumer engagement with the Facebook brand page.

Based on an online questionnaire survey, data obtained from 369 Facebook users were analyzed by using structural equation modeling to empirically examine the proposed framework.

Results support an influential mediating effect of consumer e-empowerment to the social capital -consumer engagement link. Specifically, the effect of both bridging and bonding social capitals on consumer engagement is partially mediated by consumer e-empowerment.

The social capital notion is powerful for managers, as it indicates significant results for the firm due to investments in social media brand pages. Such social capital transmutes into consumer engagement via consumer e-empowerment. Therefore, this paper provides a guideline for managers when investing in social media sites.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study how social capital may affect consumer engagement. The paper is a leading study in investigating the direct and indirect (via consumer e-empowerment) effects of bonding and bridging social capitals on consumer brand engagement.

Prior studies argue that social capital is vital for firm growth. Adding to this line of research, this paper provides more evidence regarding the contribution of bonding and bridging social ties to various aspects of small-l and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development. Building on the original data from Russia, this paper investigates the effects of firm-internal and firm-external relational ties on SME performance and geographic expansion. The findings indicate that horizontal bridging ties facilitate specific strategies of SME growth. Thus, this paper supports prior research conducted in the Asian context, and allows for extending the outcomes of bonding and bridging social capital into broader institutional settings. In addition, this study raises the question of relationship between the composition of social capital and distinct organizational characteristics of SMEs. Finally, the paper discusses the implications for future research, and outlines some practical recommendations for SMEs operating in emerging markets.

The goal of this paper is to examine the mediating role of organizational social capital between family firms' organizational culture, characterized by their group vs individual orientation and external vs internal orientation, and their performance.

A structural equation model is developed and tested in a sample of 176 US family firms recruited through Prolific Academic.

The authors show that group vs individual cultural orientation fosters bonding social capital, while external vs internal cultural orientation fosters bridging social capital. In turn, family firm performance is only enhanced by bridging social capital, not bonding social capital, which appears to have neutral to negative direct performance effects. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that bonding social capital facilitates the establishment of bridging ties, leading to overall positive performance outcomes.

The understanding of how organizational culture influences family business heterogeneity and performance, along with the clarification of how bonding social capital fosters or hinders performance, provides novel insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand the complexities within the unique context of family businesses.

The primary objectives of this article are to systematically explore whether and how certain WeChat use motives could lead to bridging social capital, bonding social capital and civic engagement among young people.

The data was collected from a large-scale online survey of 1208 young people in mainland China. Zero-order correlation analyses and structural equation modeling were carried out to examine the corresponding hypotheses.

Obtained findings show that WeChat use for informational and social motivations are positively associated with bonding and bridging social capital. Moreover, bonding social capital could mediate the relationship between WeChat usage for informational and relational motivations and civic engagement.

Theoretically, this article underlines the unique social and technological affordances of WeChat by exploring mobile social media use and how it would contribute to the quality of democracy by fostering young people's engagement in civic life. Practically, bridging and bonding social capital play significant roles in enhancing young people's civic engagement, which could be the meaningful resource for mobile social media designers, managers and government officials.

These obtained outcomes underlined the vital role of these newly emerging communication technologies in fostering democratic involvement and production of social capital in contemporary socially networked society.

This study aims to explore the impact of social capital on job performance when workers interact with coworkers through social media in organizations.

Structural equation modeling was conducted, and a sample of 230 workers in Taiwan was investigated.

This study found that bonding social capital has a greater impact on job performance than bridging social capital for interactions among coworkers through social media in organizations. Moreover, bridging social capital affects job performance more strongly for male workers than for female workers, but bonding social capital affects job performance more strongly for female workers than for male workers.

This study extended social capital theory by adding the mediating effects of job satisfaction and relational satisfaction and the moderating effect of gender into the model.

This study suggests that company managers need to train workers how to use social media to appropriate their affordances and consider the work team relationship to position adequate strategies for male and female workers.

This study advances the previous knowledge of social capital theory for workers interacting with coworkers through social media in organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the intensity use of WeChat is associated with perceived social capital and psychological well-being factors among Chinese international students in Germany.

Based on an online survey data collected from 212 Chinese international college students in Germany, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were sequentially implemented to deal with the research questions.

The correlation analysis results indicate that the intensity of WeChat use is positively correlated with bridging, bonding, and maintained social capital. Additionally, a path model demonstrates that bonding social capital is positively related to life satisfaction and negatively related to the sense of loneliness. Furthermore, both bonding and maintained social capital mediate the relationship between WeChat use and these two well-being outcomes.

Theoretically, the research is an initial study contributing to the existing social media literature on evaluating the effects of WeChat use on social capital and well-being. Practically, these obtained results can be beneficial to the understanding the dynamics of how social media may potentially impact students’ social connectedness and life quality.

Although WeChat has become the most prevalent social networking site in Mainland China, the social and psychological implications of the emerging technology are not completely understood. The paper offers evidence that WeChat has functioned as an efficient platform for sojourners to develop diverse types of social capital and promote well-being in an intercultural setting.