Exploring the effect of user engagement in online brand communities: Evidence from Twitter

Social media such as forums, blogs and microblogs has been increasingly used for public information sharing and opinions exchange nowadays. It has changed the way how online community interacts and somehow has led to a new trend of engagement for online retailers especially on microblogging websites such as Twitter. In this study, we investigated the impact of online retailers' engagement with the online brand communities on users' perception of brand image and service. Firstly, we analysed the overall sentiment trends of different brands and the patterns of engagement between companies and customers using the collected tweets posted on a popular social media platform, Twitter. Then, we studied how different types of engagements affect customer sentiments. Our analysis shows that engagement has an effect on sentiments that associate with brand image, perception and customer service of the online retailers. Our findings indicate that the level, length, type and attitude of retailers' engagement with social media users have a significant impact on their sentiments. Based on our results, we derived several important managerial and practical implications.     

How virtual community participation influences consumer loyalty intentions in online shopping contexts: an investigation of mediating factors

Extant studies generally recognise that virtual community building is an effective marketing programme for forging deep and enduring affective bonds with consumers. This study extends previous research by proposing and testing a model that investigates key mediating processes (via trust, satisfaction and identification) that underlie the relationship between virtual community participation and consumer loyalty intentions. The authors test the hypotheses using data obtained from three large online retailing stores. Virtual community participation significantly enhances loyalty intentions, through both social mechanisms (via community identification) and psychological mechanisms (via trust and satisfaction). Moreover, the findings provide insights into the complex relationship between the two mechanisms in online shopping settings. Community identification is a pivotal factor for enhancing customer loyalty intentions. The results advance understanding of the process by which virtual community building facilitates the development of business-to-consumer relationships in the computer-mediated environment. The authors discuss the managerial implications of the findings, as well as avenues for further research.     

Non-public and public online community participation: Needs, attitudes and behavior

Nonpublic participation within an online community, often called lurking, occurs when an individual joins a community, but does not post. This study examines the nature of lurking, why people lurk and the differences in attitudes between lurkers and posters. The results indicate significant differences between people who lurk and those who post in an online community. We conclude that when people lurk they are observing, which in no way is a negative behavior. This introverted or passive behavior affects lurkers' attitudes about the benefits of the community, their expectations, and opinions of themselves and others who lurk. In general lurkers are less optimistic and less positive than those who post. Blair Nonnecke is a usability professional and academic with a particular interest in user-centred design and online communities. Blair is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph where he studies participation in online communities and the usability of in-vehicle navigation devices. His recent research focuses on three areas: survey methods for hard to reach participants, the role participation plays in online learning environments, and factors leading to participation in communities of practice. Dorine Andrews D.C.D. As a specialist in communications design, Dr. Andrews' research and publications focus on both online communities and the implementation of major technology change in organizations. She has taught at Georgetown University's Communications, Culture and Technology program and at the University of Baltimore's School for Interaction Design and Information Architecture. She is now a principal change consultant for RWD Technologies, Inc. headquartered in Baltimore, MD. She can be reached via e-mail at dandrews@rwd.com Jennifer Preece is Professor and Dean of the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, USA. Her research and teaching interests focus on human-computer interaction, online communities and social computing. She has authored many papers and books on these topics. Her two most recent books are: Online Communites: “Designing usability, supporting sociability”, and a coauthroed book with Helen Sharp and Yvonne Rogers entiled “Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction”. Both books are published by John Wiley & Sons.     

Investigating factors affecting social presence and user satisfaction with Mobile Instant Messaging

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence social presence and user satisfaction with Mobile Instant Messaging (mIM). The proposed research model integrates channel expansion, social influence, social presence and media richness theories, to explain how user experience, social influence, and medium richness influence social presence and user satisfaction with mIM. A total of 239 students from a state university in the US participated in this study. Data was collected via a web-based survey. The results suggest that user experience, social influence, and perceived richness are important drivers for social presence and user satisfaction in mIM. The implications of the study findings are discussed in the paper.     

Contextual influences on user satisfaction with mobile computing: findings from two healthcare organizations

Mobile information technologies (IT) are transforming individual work practices and organizations. These devices are extending not only the boundaries of the ‘office’ in space and time, but also the social context within which use occurs. In this paper, we investigate how extra-organizational influences can impact user satisfaction with mobile systems. The findings from our longitudinal study highlight the interrelatedness of different use contexts and their importance in perceptions of user satisfaction. The data indicate that varying social contexts of individual use (individual as employee, as professional, as private user, and as member of society) result in different social influences that affect the individual's perceptions of user satisfaction with the mobile technology. While existing theories explain user satisfaction with IT within the organizational context, our findings suggest that future studies of mobile IT in organizations should accommodate such extra-organizational contextual influences.     

Influences of place attachment and social media affordances on online brand community continuance

Information Systems and e-Business Management - The emergence and rapid development of social media have brought customers to become an indispensable part of brand activities through conversation...     

Understanding the role of an IT artifact in online service continuance: An extended perspective of user satisfaction

Given increasing investment in an IT (information technology) artifact (i.e., online service website), it is becoming important to retain existing customers. In order to help link website design and investment decisions to the strategy for retaining customers, we propose a model by extending the user satisfaction perspective into research on online service continuance. We empirically tested the model within the context of a social network service. The analysis results found that website information satisfaction and system satisfaction play key roles in forming continuance intention through perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment. It is also noted that computer anxiety serves as an important moderator toward continuance intention. Theoretical and practical implications are offered for better understanding of the role of the IT artifact in online service post-adoption phenomena.     

Investigating customer satisfaction dimensions with service quality of online auctions: an empirical investigation of e-Bay

Over the recent years, C2C (consumer-to-consumer) electronic market has increased rapidly, and has become the most active segment of e-markets today. Despite the growth and popularity of online auctions and especially of e-Bay, which has been considered to be one of the most profitable e-commerce companies, the online auction environment is risky and transactions are complex due to the fact that buyer and seller do not know each other and they are not familiar. Although many studies have examined the impact of e-service quality on customer satisfaction in B2C (business-to-consumer) or B2B (business-to-business) commerce, the literature is insufficient in the case of C2C commerce. However, a number of authors have conducted research in C2C and particularly in e-Bay but in all of the cases, data source from e-Bay’s feedback system was employed in order to investigate service quality issues. Nevertheless, in this study a field research was conducted in order to collect the necessary data and thus reducing possible bias. The purpose of this paper is to examine some determinants of satisfaction with service quality dimensions in the online auction environment. More specifically, this paper is examining the case of e-Bay, in order to have a better understanding of buyers’ satisfaction in this risky environment. The paper’s aim is accomplished through an empirical investigation of a sample of 2,099 buyers of e-Bay, examining buyers’ expectation and perception levels towards service quality of e-Bay. Gap analysis was first employed in order to identify users’ disconfirmation dimensions in the online auction market place. Some research hypotheses are formulated to find out whether these dimensions have a positive disconfirmation. In most of the cases a positive disconfirmation is tracked down. Secondly, factor analysis was utilized to identify broad determinants of e-Bay service quality. The pool of the initial items deduced to four factors. These factors are, to a degree, differentiated in the Greek environment from factors found in other studies. A second round of research hypotheses are formulated again to find out whether those factors are related to the users’ disconfirmation dimensions. Finally, a new theoretical model is proposed based on the above mentioned hypotheses.     

The user in the loop: Enabling user participation for self-adaptive applications

Future computing systems must adjust to the user’s situations, habits, and intentions. Self-adaptive applications autonomously adapt to changing contexts without asking the user. However, the self-adaptive behaviour lacks of success if it does not correspond to the user’s personal interaction habits and intentions, particularly for complex scenarios with a high degree of user interaction. Concerning the interaction design, such adaptations can be irritating and distracting for the user if they do not match the current situation. In this article we provide a solution how to integrate the user in the self-adaptation feedback loop. The user will be able to influence the adaptation behaviour at run-time and in the long term by setting individual preferences. Consequently, we achieve a harmonisation between full application autonomy and user control. We implemented our generic concepts by extending an existing self-adaptation middleware with capabilities to respect the user’s application focus and interaction behaviour. A notification-based solution for user participation has been evaluated in a substantial user study with 62 participants. Although participants perceived much better control with our solution, the study made clear that notification design is specific for each adaptation type.     

Multinational web uses and gratifications: Measuring the social impact of online community participation across national boundaries

This paper describes the rationale and findings from a multinational study of online uses and gratifications conducted in the United States, Korea, and the Netherlands in spring 2003. Survey questions developed in three languages by native speaking researchers was presented to approximately 400 respondents in each country via the Web. Web uses and gratifications were analyzed cross-nationally in a comparative fashion focusing on involvement in different types of on-line communities. Findings indicate that demographic characteristics, cultural values, and Internet connection type emerged as critical factors that explain why the same technology is adopted differently. Patricia Grace-Farfaglia is a doctoral student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Lally School of Management & Technology. Her area of concentration is in socioeconomic impacts of emerging technology, particularly how the consumer relates to new media innovation. Her dissertation explores how consumer risk segmentation affects marketing strategy. She has also lectured on new media technology, organizational, and marketing communications at the University of Connecticut and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As a registered dietitian and adjunct lecturer at the University of Connecticut, she offers courses on nutrition and culture. She is also reviewer for the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Raised in Elmira, New York, Patricia lives with her husband and two children in Newtown, Connecticut. Ad C. Dekkers (Ir., 1983) University of Wageningen, Netherlands) was from 1998–2005 research coordinator on Fontys University, Department of Communications. He developed educational material for new media (didacdisc, e-business basis material, CRM-cases library) and worked on ICT awareness and dissemination projects for economic and communication institutes. Ad Dekkers participated in research projects and publications with the University of Connecticut (New Media and the Communication Profession) and the Renselaer Polytechnic Institute (Uses and Gratification of Web Use). An article about the implementation of ICT-experiences in higher education has appeared in the Dutch magazine Thema (November 2004). As projectleader from the Digital University, Ad Dekkers co-produced a toolbox for developing and supporting Communities of Practice (ProCoP, 2005). The Digital University (De Digitale Universiteit) is a consortium of ten universities in the Netherlands. It focuses on the development and application of digital educational products and knowledge for higher education. At this moment Ad Dekkers is quality and educational consultant for Fontys University in the Netherlands. Binod Sundararajan is a fourth-year doctoral student in Communication & Rhetoric in the Department of Language, Literature and Communication at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy NY. He also has a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from RPI. His research interests include educational and organizational communication, social network analysis and computer-mediated communication. Specifically, he has been investigating the role of electronic communication and social dynamics factors like respect and influence in classroom projects in computer-supported collaborative learning and work environments. He is also involved in projects that have investigated multinational web use, eye movement data for PDA use and the study of the development and use of online social networks. Lois Peters is currently a principal investigator in the Nanotechnology Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the NSF sponsored Nanoscale Engineering Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Professor Peters current areas of interest lie in identifying key practices, core resources, and characteristics of socio-economic dynamics shaping business decisions regarding investment in, and commercialization of, emerging technologies. She continues to be an active member of the Radical Innovation Program which began in 1995 and is now in its second phase. She is co-author of Radical Innovation: How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts (Harvard Business Press).     

Investigating the relationship between success factors and student participation in online and blended learning in adult education

Online and blended learning (OBL) is valued, but it also offers challenges. Literature indicates that OBL can enhance access to education and increase flexibility for students. However, the reported dropout rates indicate that student participation in OBL programmes is a concern. Scientifically valid knowledge about how factors that help students participate in OBL are related to student participation is necessary for quality improvement of OBL. This knowledge can help professionals determine what they need to improve in their institution and how to prioritize those improvements. In this study, we report on the validation of a quality instrument with indicators related to quality dimensions present in quality management frameworks and important success factors that aid student participation in OBL. These success factors are as follows: credibility, transparency, flexibility, accessibility, interactivity, personalization, and productivity. The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) method is suitable for validating complex models in studies where predictive accuracy is important. According to adult students, all success factors, except flexibility, are important for aiding OBL participation. Adult students perceive that the quality dimensions of learning activities and student support (related to interactivity) deserve priority in improving participation in OBL in adult education.     

The low status advantage: the effect of status structure on participation in an online community

Despite the proliferation of online communities that dominantly feature its high status and most accomplished users, no research has addressed conditions under which consumers may prefer a community of low status or more inexperienced members. This study investigates the effect of status structure (i.e., the proportion of high status to low status members) and consumption motivations (i.e., utilitarian vs. hedonic) on consumers’ willingness to participate in an online community. We find that a high status-dominant structure motivates participation when the community or product motive is utilitarian. By contrast, a low status-dominant structure motivates participation to a greater degree when the motive is hedonic. A need for legitimacy underlies increased participation intentions when the status structure is high status-dominant, and a need for connectedness plays a mediating role when the status structure is low status-dominant. The findings provide important implications for marketers in regard to the ways in which status is messaged in online communities.     

Investigating the usability of assistive user interfaces

A prototype e-mail system was developed for cognitively disabled users, with four different interfaces (free format, idea prompt, form fill and menu driven). The interfaces differed in the level of support provided for the user and complexity of facilities for composing e-mail messages. Usability evaluation demonstrated that no one interface was superior because of individual differences in usability problems, although the majority of users preferred interfaces which did not restrict their freedom of expression (free format). In contrast to traditional evaluation studies, no common pattern of usability errors emerged, demonstrating the need for customisation of interfaces for individual cognitively disabled users. A framework for customising user interfaces to individual users is proposed, and usability principles derived from the study are expressed as claims following the task artefact cycle.     

A study of social participation and knowledge sharing in the teachers' online professional community of practice

To facilitate professional development of teachers in the online context, the online community of practice (CoPs) has become an important platform in which individuals with similar interests or common goals get together to share their resources, develop working strategies, solve problems, and improve individual as well as organizational performance. In this study, we have collected self-reported knowledge-sharing behaviors from 321 members of the largest online professional CoP of teachers in Taiwan. The results show that closer connections among online CoP members can lead to greater recognition of and altruism towards others. Moreover, performance expectation and self-efficacy belief play essential roles in knowledge-sharing participation. Thus, the development of social relationships among online teacher members helps them obtain potential resources and reliable support through their social network. Also, teachers' membership in the online professional CoP fosters a prosocial attitude that heightens their willingness to share useful resources and solve other members' problems, both emotionally and instrumentally. Consequently, knowledge-sharing behaviors, in terms of knowledge giving and knowing receiving, are significantly predicted by prosocial commitment and performance expectation respectively. The implications to both research and practice are provided in this paper.     

Determinants of user participation: a Finnish survey

The relationship between user participation and information systems success has intrigued researchers for two decades. Despite this history there is minimal research on the antecedents of user participation. The tenet of the present paper is that the conditions of user participation are essentially changing. Especially, the European tradition of user participation has focused on blue collar workers rather than professionals and managers. Users are normally assumed to be computer illiterate. The North American tradition has almost exclusively focused on the impact of user participation on information systems success. The present paper examined the significance of organizational level of users, their task variety and computer experience as determinants of user participation including age, gender, education, computer training, organizational tenure and job tenure as control variables. The three determinants were found to have a significant positive effect on user participation, computer experience emerging as the most dominant factor. Gender, education and computer training were discovered to have significant effects mediated by organizational level, task variety and computer experience.     

Investigating perceived emotions and affects of a scene,and the user satisfaction with motion effects in 4D movies

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the intensity of perceived affect and emotion of a scene in relation to individual empathy ability and the rotation angle of a seat's motion caused by 4D movie motion effect. The secondary objective was to identify the causal factors that affected satisfaction with a motion effect. Although 4D movies have received increasing attention from the users of audiovisual content, user-centered research related to motion effects has rarely been conducted. Thirty-six participants who were grouped according to their empathy ability, viewed 10 4D movie clips and answered 2 questions related to 1) the perceived affect and emotion felt from the scenes and 2) satisfaction with the motion effects. The participants who had a high empathy ability indicated a stronger perceived affect and emotion during a scene than the participants who had a low empathy ability. A motion effect elicited different perceived emotions and affects between the two groups. The perceived temporal appropriateness, physical appropriateness, understandability, and disturbance of a motion effect affected the participants' satisfaction. This is a pioneering research related to the motion effects of 4D movie; therefore, these results could be helpful in providing insight for 4D effect designers of contents industry.     

Age differences in perceptions of online community participation among non-users: An extension of the Technology Acceptance Model

This study examined age differences in perceptions of online communities held by people who were not yet participating in these relatively new social spaces. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), we investigated the factors that affect future intention to participate in online communities. Our results supported the proposition that perceived usefulness positively affects behavioral intention, yet it was determined that perceived ease of use was not a significant predictor of perceived usefulness. The study also discovered negative relationships between age and Internet self-efficacy and the perceived quality of online community websites. However, the moderating role of age was not found. The findings suggest that the relationships among perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and intention to participate in online communities do not change with age. Theoretical and practical implications and limitations were discussed.     

Social media and online health services: A health empowerment perspective to online health information

This study investigates how differences in the use of online health information and social media affect the use of online health services. We attempt to predict the extent to which the use of social media and online health information prompt individuals to use online health services. We draw upon a combination of sociology and communication studies and integrate relational maintenance assumptions regarding the quality of online social relationships to promote the importance of health empowerment factors–socio-demographic characteristics, internet attitudes and health status models to predict the likelihood of using online health services. The study’s sample consists of 1406 individuals using the Internet, including 633 individuals using the Internet and social media to look for health information. The study’s results provide evidence that (a) online health information empowers most of the examined individuals to use online health services; (b) among all social media only those that offer consulting have a significant effect on the likelihood of using online health services. The implications of these findings support that a conceptual integration of CMC and social media use theories along with health empowerment assumptions, is a promising theoretical framework to test the effectiveness of social media use in prompting use of online health services. The practical applications for health management are highlighted as well. Finding practical and affordable ways to support the use of social media and encourage access to online health information and use of online health services could improve health literacy and self-management of health at the individual level and increase the efficiency in the provision of health services at the institutional level.     

Triggering participation: Exploring the effects of third-person and hostile media perceptions on online participation

Using a 2 × 3 mixed between-within subjects experiment (N = 102), we tested how the presence of online comments affects self-other differences and perceptions of media bias, as well as factors predicting subjects’ likelihood of commenting on an online news story. We found that (a) presence of comments lowers self-other differences and consequently attenuates the third-person effect, and (b) perceptions of media bias significantly predict likelihood of commenting. Additionally, we found that subjects were more likely to comment on stories they found biased against their position as a form of corrective action, and that subjects were more likely to share and like stories they found biased in favor of their position as a form of promotional action.     

The influences of system usability and user satisfaction on continued Internet banking services usage intention: empirical evidence from Taiwan

This study proposes an extended technology acceptance model to investigate the effects of system usability and satisfaction on users’ intention to continue using Internet banking services. Based on a survey data from 304 respondents, structural equation modeling technique was employed to validate the model. The empirical results found that users’ continuance usage intention is jointly determined by perceived usefulness, perceived compatibility and satisfaction level. The hypothesized model explains 48.2 % of the variance in continuous usage intention. Results of multi-group analysis reveal that there are different concerns and priorities between skilled and less skilled users. Given that the sample of this study is collected from a particular industry in Taiwan, the generalizability of the findings may be limited. However, the comprehensiveness and representativeness of the research sample is a major strength of this study.