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Explaining Virtual Community Participation: Accounting for the IT Artifacts Through Identification and Identity Confirmation

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From Information to Smart Society

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation ((LNISO,volume 5))

Abstract

This study draws upon self-verification theory, social identity theory and self-categorization theory to investigate the dual effects of system design, i.e., identity confirmation (the self) and identification (the community), on virtual community (VC) participation. An important theoretical development is the conceptualization of VC identity and the elucidation of its system design determinants. Community presentation, i.e., system design features for presenting a virtual community identity, is hypothesized to facilitate identification by setting the boundaries for inter-group comparison and highlighting the in-group homogeneity. Furthermore, system design features that prior research identified as determinants for identity confirmation, i.e., self-presentation, deep profiling, and co-presence, are argued to have impacts on identification directly by influencing social comparison and indirectly by making the VC identity attractive. The research model accounts for the dual roles of system design features, i.e., effects on identification and identity confirmation, in explaining VC participation. The implications of these results for both theory and practice are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wollongong in Dubai, 20183, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Kathy Ning Shen

  2. Al Ghurair University, 37374, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Mohamed Khalifa

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  1. Kathy Ning Shen
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  2. Mohamed Khalifa
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Correspondence to Kathy Ning Shen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Lapo Mola

  2. Department of Management and Technology, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

    Ferdinando Pennarola

  3. CeRSI Research Center in Information Systems, LUISS Guido Carli University, Rome, Italy

    Stefano Za

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Shen, K.N., Khalifa, M. (2015). Explaining Virtual Community Participation: Accounting for the IT Artifacts Through Identification and Identity Confirmation. In: Mola, L., Pennarola, F., Za, S. (eds) From Information to Smart Society. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09450-2_8

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