Towards understanding members’ participation behaviour in B2B virtual communities: a socio-technical approach

Abstract

The importance of virtual communities for businesses has been well documented in the literature. Particularly, information and knowledge exchange has been identified as one of the main reasons for businesses to participate in virtual communities. The success of a virtual community depends on its members’ active contribution to the community. A considerable amount of literature has been published on factors affecting members’ participation behaviour in various community types. Limited research has focused on B2B virtual communities. Subsequently, there is limited understanding of what motivates businesses to actively participate in their virtual communities. Hence, the primary goal of this paper is to provide some understanding of the crucial factors that determine businesses’ participation behaviours in virtual community environments. Towards achieving this aim, underpinned by two well-known theories: Social Exchange Theory and Information System Success Model, this study proposes an integrated theoretical framework. The application of the framework has yet to be tested with a particular B2B virtual community.