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The purpose of this paper is to find a way to encourage community members to actively create content and contribute knowledge through the study of the relationship between virtual community awareness, commitment and knowledge contribution, so as to make virtual community revitalize and provide a better platform for enterprises to carry out network marketing.

This study establishes a theoretical model that member knowledge contribution’s prepositive impact in virtual community. SOVC is an independent variable, commitment is a mediating variable and knowledge contribution is a dependent variable. Through 139 valid questionnaires from MI community, relationships among sense of virtual community (SOVC), commitment and knowledge contribution are deeply discussed.

Empirical results show that, as three dimensions of SOVC, membership, influence and immersion can all drive commitment and knowledge contribution in different degrees. In the two-dimensional division of commitment, only affective commitment can drive knowledge contribution. Affective commitment and calculative commitment can play a mediating role in the impact of SOVC on knowledge contribution.

Empirical research that the academia has done on important issues such as the impact of SOVC and commitment on knowledge contribution is deficient. Furthermore, those researches which have explored the mediating effect of commitment in the impact of SOVC on knowledge contribution remain merely on theoretical deduction level, and empirical studies based on Chinese background are also rare. In China, MI community is the typical representative of virtual community that runs successfully, and choosing it to conduct research can not only provide representatives on sample but also duplicate on the result popularity. Thus, this paper chooses MI community as the empirical object to explore the relationships among SOVC, commitment and knowledge contribution.

This paper aims to explore some of the effects of belonging to a virtual brand community on consumer behaviour. It also proposes the concept of belonging as a three‐dimensional construct.

The paper proposes that belonging to a virtual community has positive effects on consumer satisfaction, affective commitment and word‐of‐mouth behaviour. After validation of the measurement scales the hypotheses are contrasted through modelling.

The data show that belonging to a virtual community may enhance consumer satisfaction, affective commitment and word‐of‐mouth advertising towards the brand around which the community is developed. In addition, the paper introduces a third dimension to the construct of belonging, called non‐participative belonging. Active participative belonging influences the level of satisfaction and affective commitment more positively than passive and non‐participative belonging.

Data were obtained through surveys, web surveys and online interviews. There were also limitations of sample size and sampling procedure.

Managers may enhance consumer satisfaction, affective commitment and word‐of‐mouth advertising by developing virtual brand communities and promoting consumers' participation in them.

Previous works that have focused on virtual brand communities have never concentrated on virtual brand communities within Facebook. In addition, prior to this study, belonging to a virtual brand community was a two‐dimensional construct: active and passive participative belonging. The paper identifies a third dimension as non‐participative belonging. Thus this paper offers new areas for future research.

Although the number of virtual communities has increased dramatically over the past few years, attracting and maintaining members remains the biggest challenge to establishing virtual social networks. This study seeks to integrate the roles of individual factors (issue involvement), social factors (social interaction), and system factors (system interactivity), and to explore how these factors contribute to member commitment in virtual communities.

A total of 402 undergraduate students, who are all current members of virtual communities, participated in this study. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The findings reveal that member commitment to communities was influenced more by their issue involvement compared to their perceived social interaction or perceived system interactivity.

This research contributes to online community literature by integrating critical antecedent factors in the field of community commitment behavior. The findings indicate that issue involvement is more important than social interaction and system interactivity for influencing member commitment to communities. Additionally, the findings suggest that online community administrators should consider community positioning and topic selecting programs when attempting to influence users to commit to communities.

The importance of virtual communities is growing day by day, since consumers are increasingly using online tools to share ideas and contact fellow consumers. For this reason, the purpose of this paper, which is based on relational capital theory, is to analyze what factors determine the consumer commitment to a virtual community.

A positive effect of trust in a virtual community on commitment to the community is suggested. In addition, some antecedents of trust placed in a virtual community are proposed. After the validations of measurement scales the hypotheses are contrasted through structural modelling.

The data show that trust placed in a virtual community has a positive and significant effect on consumers' commitment to that virtual community. Additionally, a general disposition to trust, a greater familiarity with the community and a stronger norm of reciprocity in communication in the community may increase the level of trust placed in a virtual community.

Data were collected thanks to a web survey using Spanish‐speaking members of free software virtual communities. Thus, it would be interesting to carry out a new validation of the model using other types of virtual communities and a wider sample of consumers, particularly in terms of different nationalities.

This study has shown how managers may foster trust and commitment toward a virtual community in order to ensure the community's success and survival in the long term; that is, the ongoing participation in the community.

Most of the works that are focused on virtual communities have been conducted at the conceptual level. Thus, with the aim of progressing this topic, the study analyzes empirically the precursors of trust and commitment to a virtual community.

With the prevailing microblogging phenomenon, many marketers have created their microblog accounts to promote products, advertise brands, and attract consumers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of consumers’ community commitment, information technology (IT) habit, and participation on their brand loyalty in the context of enterprise microblogs.

A total of 364 valid data were collected from fans or followers of enterprise microblogs through a survey on Weibo.com. The data were analyzed with smart partial least squares.

Community commitment and IT habit directly lead to brand loyalty and indirectly affect brand loyalty through the mediating influence of participation. Information quality, perceived expertise, and social interaction are antecedents of community commitment. Satisfaction, importance, and social interaction positively affect IT habit.

To enhance the generalizability of the study, future studies may examine findings in other platforms (e.g. Twitter) with a large sample size.

Practitioners can increase consumers’ brand loyalty through enterprise microblogs. Considerable attention should be directed to facilitating members’ community commitment and IT habit. In addition, the study points out significant antecedents of community commitment and IT habit for researchers, managers, and companies.

To uncover the marketing potential of microblogging technology, the authors highlight the need for investigating how enterprise microblogs generate promising marketing outcomes. The present study examines key determinants of brand loyalty. The model empirically shows the significant effects of community commitment, IT habit, and participation.

This study aims to not only develop measurements of preferential attachment and homophily mechanisms based on their definitions and network theory but also examine the associations among these network mechanisms, community commitment, knowledge sharing and community citizenship behavior.

In total, 250 valid questionnaires are collected to examine the hypothesized associations. These hypotheses are examined by using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal both mechanisms are beneficial to develop new entrants’ emotional attachment to a virtual community, thereby motivating knowledge sharing and community altruistic behavior. The results contribute some practical and theoretical implications that are very helpful for the conceptualization of network mechanisms, community development, relationship management and incentives for extra-role behavior.

The literature on the link between network selection mechanisms and knowledge sharing remains unknown. This study is the pioneer to disclose this unknown association and examine the impacts of preferential attachment and homophily network mechanisms.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive model to illustrate the mediating role of sense of virtual community (SOVC) in virtual communities of practices (VCoPs). The interrelations between social capital and collective action in terms of knowledge contribution in the VCoP context are also examined.

A total of 253 members from the Zclub and Jorsindo, responded to the survey. PLS-SEM path modeling was used to analyze survey data.

Members’ structural capital and cognitive capital both positively and significantly influence members’ SOVC, and, in turn, their SOVC influences relational capital.

The study linked two theories, namely, social capital and theory of collective action, to discuss knowledge contribution in VCoPs. Social capital and SOVC have significant and positive effects on knowledge contribution in VCoPs.

Knowledge contributions in VCoPs are created through interactions among members, as well as the facilitation resulting from shared visions. Administrators can promote the formation of social-interaction ties in VCoPs to reinforce the formation of social capital and a SOVC.

Administrators of knowledge-oriented groups must strive to sustain proper levels of SOVC among members to ensure their continued participation in VCoPs.

The main objectives of this study were to examine the effects of social capital (structural, cognitive, and relational capitals) on the quality and quantity of knowledge contribution. SOVC was proposed as a mediator in the relationship between structural and/or cognitive capital toward relational capital.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of virtual community trust on work engagement and person–job fit in the context of digital work platforms. The emergence of the platform economy is changing the work environment fundamentally. It has enabled the appearance of alternative work arrangements, such as temporary organizing and the increase of independent contracting, also among highly specialized knowledge workers.

Data were collected with an online survey and used to test the relationships between virtual community trust, work engagement and person–job fit. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the goodness of a theoretical model.

Based on the data of 127 experts contracting on digital work platforms, virtual community trust positively affects both work engagement and person–job fit. In addition, the relationship between work engagement and person–job fit in the context of digital work platforms is significant and positive.

This study shows that trust among independent contractors working on digital platforms is important for work engagement and that platform providers can improve work performance through person–job fit by assisting in the creation of trust among members of their platforms.

The research literature on knowledge work in the changing context of work is scarce, and the role of trust in the context of digital work platforms needs clarification. This paper tests a theoretical model on the effects of trust among highly skilled experts working in the digital platform context as independent contractors and provides evidence for the importance of building trust among members of a virtual work community.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how online trust affects group shopping intention in the Ihergo web site.

Samples from the Ihergo web site were collected by mailing a questionnaire survey to those who agreed to participate.

Group‐buying operators need to understand their consumers and the scheduling shopping rules between internet shoppers and firms. Moreover, word‐of‐mouth (WOM) can be created online by offering web visitors the ability to access the opinions of satisfied customers.

An online business may adopt different methods to enhance its customer satisfaction level. When people enter a significant amount of personal data at a web site, they are typically reluctant to change vendors and enter the data again.

Customers view a group‐buying operator as a shopping expert, and expect that the group‐buying operator can handle shopping problems before a dispute occurs.

The findings of this study provide interesting insights for group‐buying operators interested in group‐buying commerce; consumers having a high level of interest in shopping possess a strong motivation and desire to interact with the group‐buying operator.

The purpose of this study is to introduce a conceptual framework for identifying the antecedents that affect members' online community commitment in the context of China. Understanding members' online community behaviour is important for e-marketers as it has been predicted that the online communities bring new opportunities and challenges to the business.

The framework is derived from the resource-based perspective. It addresses the main variables and explains the key stages of conducting the study.

This study conducted a suitable process to develop the framework which identifies the antecedents of members' online community commitment. In recent years, the social media has captured a major part of people's daily communication and internet users actively participate in the online community activities; therefore, understanding the factors influence members' online community engagement and commitment is perceived to positively capture the online market.

This study proposes a conceptual framework of the antecedents of individual's online community commitment in the context of China on the basis of the previous research in this domain. An empirical study will be beneficial in supporting this framework and suggesting needed modifications.

The study provides a more holistic understanding of the factors that influence members' online community commitment. It identifies antecedents from two perspectives: individual psychological attachment and online community characteristics influence.