Examining participation willingness of internet community using structure equation model

Abstract

Rapid growth in the number of Virtual Internet Communities (VIC) over the Web cyberspace has brought together Internet users who have common interests, want to circulate and share information, wish to learn things, and desire to do business. In the process of socialization, participation willingness generally comes from user perceptions and social behavior, and it is therefore one of the most important issues for the VIC life cycle. Based on the perspectives of Taiwan’s Internet users, this paper presents an empirical investigation on VIC participation willingness by using structure equation model. Results were obtained showing that (1) users are more likely willing to have full freedom of using Internet; (2) social relationships showed no significance, mainly due to the effect of virtual trust on users’ behavior and unknown Internet social structure; and (3) communication tools did not indicate significance because they are a prerequisite for motivating user participation, rather than an significant factor to enable the VIC participation. Discussions and implications are also presented.

Keywords and phrases:

• Virtual community
• participation willingness
• internet