虛擬社群持續參與因素之探討

Intention to Participate Continually in Virtual Communities

虛擬社群的潛在價值必須藉由成員持續參與才能培養與傳達，因此影響虛擬社群持續參與的原因成為網際網路研究領域重要研究的主題之一。本研究整合了三種相關理論（資訊系統持續模式、使用與滿足理論、社會認定）提出一互補性的觀點來探討：影響社群成員持續參與意圖的重要因素；因素間相互影響的潛在模式；這些因素的效果在不同類型的社群內是否會有所差異。本研究挑選兩個台灣具代表性的虛擬社群進行抽樣，共計回收443份有效樣本（PTT.cc:181; Facebook: 262）。研究採用結構方程模式分析程序進行整體模型驗證與假說檢定，亦對兩個社群樣本進行個別分析。比較兩個社群樣本的實證結果，本研究發現虛擬社群持續參與之前因有顯著差異影響。例如，群體參照價值對於社會互助型社群（如：Facebook）發展有正面影響，對資訊交換型社群（如：PTT.cc）則產生負面影響。

Potential benefits of participating Virtual Communities (VCs) could only be realized and delivered with members' continuous participation in VCs. Therefore, it attracts quite a lot attention to study the antecedents influencing intention to participate continually in VCs. This study integrates three relevant theories (information system continuance, uses and gratifications and social identity) to explore: (1) factors influencing members' intention of continual participation in VCs; (2) the underlying relationships among these factors; (3) influence patterns in different VCs. Two representative VCs in Taiwan were selected as sampling sources and 443 respondents were collected (PTT.cc: 181, Facebook: 262). Structure Equation Modeling Analysis was used to validate the research model and hypotheses through a full sample model and two individual subsample models. Based on the research data analysis, this study finds that there are different influence patterns among different VCs. For instance, group reference value will positively influence the continual intention to participate in Social Support VCs, such as Facebook. On the other hand, group reference value will negatively influence the continual intention to participate in Information Exchange VCs, such as PTT.cc.