從訊號理論與推敲可能性模式探討線上社群信任與忠誠度之研究

Investigating Trust and Loyalty toward Online Community from the Perspectives of Signal Theory and Elaboration Likelihood Model

網際網路上充斥著各式各樣的主題性社群，如何脫穎而出，成功的經營並取得社群成員對於線上社群的信任以及忠誠度，將是社群經營者的重要課題。由於資訊泛濫與資訊不對稱的問題，網路使用者在選擇社群時，通常充滿高度的不確定性。本研究欲透過訊號理論（signal theory）為基礎，提出兩個訊號──「資訊價值」與「主觀規範」來探討其對社群信任形成的影響，並以「推敲可能性模式」為架構，將前者定義為中央訊號，後者定義為周邊訊號，並且藉由「市場行家」與「特質焦慮」兩項個人特質做為調節變數，探討線上社群成員是否會因為其本身特質的不同，影響其對於線上社群信任形成之過程。此外，本研究並探討在不同產品涉入程度的狀況下，網路使用者對社群的信任與忠誠度之間的關係是否將有所差異。本研究採用問卷設計方式收集資料，發放對象為曾經瀏覽過「Mobile01.com 」線上社群之學生族群。根據329份回收資料的分析結果發現，具有高度市場行家特質的網路使用者主要透過中央路徑來形成其社群信任，而低度市場行家特質的網路使用者則是透過周邊路徑來形成其社群信任。高度特質焦慮的網路使用者主要透過周邊路徑來形成其社群信任，而低度特質焦慮的網路使用者則是同時透過中央路徑以及周邊路徑來形成其社群信任。另外，產品涉入程度對於信任與忠誠度間關係並沒有顯著的調節影響。本研究針對分析結果，提出一些理論及實務意涵，以供未來研究及管理上的參考。

It is most challenging for an online community vendor to make his/her community stand out among various topical communities on the Internet and successfully earn the community members' trust and loyalty. Due to abundant information and information asymmetry, Internet users hardly know how to choose among various online communities under high uncertainty. This study thus proposes two signals-information value and subjective norm and investigates the effect of these two signals on online community trust formation from the perspective of signal theory. We also employ elaboration likelihood model to define information value and subjective norm as central cue and peripheral cue respectively. The market maven and trait anxiety are employed as moderators to explore whether the Internet users with different characteristics form their trust toward online community through different routes from the perspective of elaboration likelihood model. In addition, the study also explores whether product involvement mod erates the relationship between online trust and loyalty toward the community. This study collected data through questionnaire design held in several universities in southern Taiwan. Analyses are based on data collected from 329 respondents who have browsed "MobileOl.com". Results show that the members with "Higher Market Maven" mainly establish their trust toward online community through central cues. On the other hand, the members with "Lower Market Maven" mainly establish their trust toward online community through peripheral cues. Members with "Higher Trait Anxiety" mainly use "peripheral cues" to establish their trust toward online community, and members with "Lower Trait Anxiety" simultaneously use both "central cues" and "peripheral cues" to establish their trust toward online community. However, product involvement does not significantly moderate the relationship between online trust and loyalty toward online community. These findings and their theoretical and practical implications are also addressed.