Building Sustainable Virtual Communities of Practice: A Study of the Antecedents of Intention to Continue Participating

Baltasar González-Anta (), Isabel Pérez de la Fuente, Ana Zornoza and Virginia Orengo
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Baltasar González-Anta: Research Institute of Human Resources Psychology, Organizational Development, and Quality of Working Life (IDOCAL), University of Valencia, 46010 València, Spain
Isabel Pérez de la Fuente: Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of the Basque Country, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
Ana Zornoza: Research Institute of Human Resources Psychology, Organizational Development, and Quality of Working Life (IDOCAL), University of Valencia, 46010 València, Spain
Virginia Orengo: Research Institute of Human Resources Psychology, Organizational Development, and Quality of Working Life (IDOCAL), University of Valencia, 46010 València, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 21, 1-17

Abstract: Virtual communities are essential in contemporary social and organizational domains. Their sustainability is largely propelled by members’ contributions, and yet the mechanisms for achieving significant participation remain ambiguous. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model, our primary objective is to identify the factors that may predict the intention to participate in a virtual community of practice; secondly, we aim to detect the most influential predictor(s) and the best model. In this paper, we conduct a cross-sectional study with a sample of 114 virtual community participants. Our multiple and weighted regression analyses reveal that technological, personal, and motivational factors sway participation intentions. Nevertheless, a combination of specific factors, interactivity, self-efficacy, and identification, are the most closely related to participation intention. This research offers valuable insights for organizations and community promoters, enhancing member retention and interaction stimulation and thereby constructing sustainable virtual environments through effective community design and management.

Keywords: virtual community of practice; virtual community development; technological factors; personal factors; motivational factors; participation intention; online communities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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