Social Capital Production in a Virtual P3 Community

The purpose of this study is to examine the relational norms that determine social capital—an intangible resource embedded in and accumulated through a specific social structure. The social structure examined in this study is a virtual community created through text‐based conversations oriented toward peer‐to‐peer problem solving (P3). Empirical results support the conceptualization of social capital as an index composed of the normative influences of voluntarism, reciprocity, and social trust. Membership length was found to moderate the virtual P3 community experience. Qualitative analysis of the community dialogue provides additional support for the characterization of virtual P3 activity as community based.

[1]  A. Gouldner.  THE NORM OF RECIPROCITY: A PRELIMINARY STATEMENT * , 1960 .

[2]  M. Olson,et al.  The Logic of Collective Action , 1965 .

[3]  Edward L. Glaeser,et al.  The Formation of Social Capital , 1973 .

[4]  Joseph R. Gusfield,et al.  Community: A Critical Response. , 1976 .

[5]  David Marsland,et al.  Community: A Critical Response , 1976 .

[6]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[7]  T. L. Schwartz.  The Logic of Collective Action , 1986 .

[8]  D. Chavis,et al.  Sense of community: A definition and theory , 1986 .

[9]  Peter H. Reingen,et al.  Social Ties and Word-of-Mouth Referral Behavior , 1987 .

[10]  J. Coleman,et al.  Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital , 1988, American Journal of Sociology.

[11]  Kenneth A. Bollen,et al.  Structural Equations with Latent Variables , 1989 .

[12]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  Trying to Consume , 1990 .

[13]  R. P. McDonald,et al.  Structural Equations with Latent Variables , 1989 .

[14]  Jonathan K. Frenzen,et al.  Purchasing Behavior in Embedded Markets , 1990 .

[15]  J. Brown,et al.  Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation , 1991 .

[16]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation , 1991 .

[17]  R. Lennox,et al.  Conventional wisdom on measurement: A structural equation perspective. , 1991 .

[18]  G. Zaltman,et al.  Relationships between Providers and Users of Market Research: The Dynamics of Trust within and between Organizations , 1992 .

[19]  R. Frank Falk,et al.  A Primer for Soft Modeling , 1992 .

[20]  M. Clark,et al.  The Difference between Communal and Exchange Relationships: What it is and is Not , 1993 .

[21]  P. Furlong.  Making democracy work: civic traditions in modern Italy , 1994 .

[22]  R. Putnam,et al.  Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. , 1994 .

[23]  J. Walther.  Anticipated Ongoing Interaction Versus Channel Effects on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction , 1994 .

[24]  Amitai Etzioni.  The Responsive Community: A Communitarian Perspective , 1995 .

[25]  R. Putnam.  Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America , 1995, PS: Political Science & Politics.

[26]  J. McAlexander,et al.  Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers , 1995 .

[27]  Karen L. Michaelson.  Information, Community, and Access , 1996 .

[28]  S. Kiesler,et al.  The kindness of strangers: on the usefulness of electronic weak ties for technical advice , 1996 .

[29]  W. Galston.  Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity , 1996 .

[30]  John Hagel,et al.  The real value of on-line communities , 1999 .

[31]  K. Newton.  Social Capital and Democracy , 1997 .

[32]  Debra C. Minkoff.  Producing Social Capital , 1997 .

[33]  Frances Moore Lappé,et al.  Building social capital without looking backward , 1997 .

[34]  B. Cova.  Community and consumption , 1997 .

[35]  Douglas B. Holt,et al.  Poststructuralist Lifestyle Analysis: Conceptualizing the Social Patterning of Consumption in Postmodernity , 1997 .

[36]  J. Hagel,et al.  Net gain: Expanding markets through virtual communities , 1999 .

[37]  R. Burt.  The contingent value of social capital. , 1997 .

[38]  R. Kozinets.  QI Want to BelieveQ: a Netnography of the X-Philes Subculture of Consumption , 1997 .

[39]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Organizational Citizenship Behavior and the Quantity and Quality of Work Group Performance , 1997, The Journal of applied psychology.

[40]  D. Holt.  Does Cultural Capital Structure American Consumption , 1998 .

[41]  Wynne W. Chin.  The partial least squares approach for structural equation modeling. , 1998 .

[42]  S. Ghoshal,et al.  Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage , 1998 .

[43]  G. Hutton.  Net gain: Expanding markets through virtual communities , 1998 .

[44]  Anita L. Blanchard,et al.  Virtual Communities and Social Capital , 1998 .

[45]  I. Kawachi,et al.  Social capital and self-rated health: a contextual analysis. , 1999, American journal of public health.

[46]  R. Putnam,et al.  The Growth of Voluntary Associations in America, 18401940 , 1999, Journal of Interdisciplinary History.

[47]  John Hulland,et al.  Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies , 1999 .

[48]  Pamela Paxton.  Is Social Capital Declining in the United States? A Multiple Indicator Assessment1 , 1999, American Journal of Sociology.

[49]  J. Onyx,et al.  Measuring Social Capital in Five Communities , 2000 .

[50]  E. Ostrom.  Collective action and the evolution of social norms , 2000, Journal of Economic Perspectives.

[51]  E. Wenger,et al.  Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier , 2000 .

[52]  M. McLure Wasko,et al.  "It is what one does": why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[53]  James Rice,et al.  Social Consequences of Internet Use , 2000 .

[54]  Vijay Mahajan,et al.  The Economic Leverage of the Virtual Community , 2001, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[55]  Joep Sonnemans,et al.  On the Dynamics of Social Ties Structures in Groups , 2006 .

[56]  R. Kozinets.  Utopian Enterprise: Articulating the Meanings of Star Trek’s Culture of Consumption , 2001 .

[57]  B. Cova,et al.  Tribal aspects of postmodern consumption research: the case of French in-line roller skaters , 2001 .

[58]  Thomas C. O'Guinn,et al.  brand community , 2022, The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Fashion.

[59]  R. Hardin,et al.  Conceptions and explanations of trust. , 2001 .

[60]  M. Lindell,et al.  Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[61]  H. Winklhofer,et al.  Index Construction with Formative Indicators: An Alternative to Scale Development , 2001 .

[62]  C. Mathwick.  Understanding the online consumer: A typology of online relational norms and behavior , 2002 .

[63]  R. Kozinets.  The Field behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities , 2002 .

[64]  R. Rice,et al.  Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, and Interaction , 2002 .

[65]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  Intentional social action in virtual communities , 2002 .

[66]  Douglas E. Allen,et al.  Toward a Theory of Consumer Choice as Sociohistorically Shaped Practical Experience: The Fits-Like-a-Glove (FLAG) Framework , 2002 .

[67]  P. Bourdieu.  Forms of Capital , 2002 .

[68]  R. Kozinets.  Can Consumers Escape the Market? Emancipatory Illuminations from Burning Man , 2002 .

[69]  P. Adler,et al.  Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept , 2002 .

[70]  J. McAlexander,et al.  Building Brand Community , 2002 .

[71]  M. Gilly,et al.  We Are What We Post? Self‐Presentation in Personal Web Space , 2003 .

[72]  Cheryl Burke Jarvis,et al.  A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research , 2003 .

[73]  Frank Parry,et al.  Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, and Interaction , 2003 .

[74]  Peter A. Dacin,et al.  Market Situation Interpretation and Response: The Role of Cognitive Style, Organizational Culture, and Information Use , 2003 .

[75]  Chrysanthos Dellarocas,et al.  The Digitization of Word-of-Mouth: Promise and Challenges of Online Feedback Mechanisms , 2003, Manag. Sci..

[76]  Manju K. Ahuja,et al.  Socialization in Virtual Groups , 2003 .

[77]  Robin Teigland,et al.  Collective Action and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice , 2004, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[78]  David Gefen,et al.  Virtual Community Attraction: Why People Hang Out Online , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[79]  Samer Faraj,et al.  Why Should I Share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice , 2005, MIS Q..

[80]  E. Arnould,et al.  Reflections and Reviews Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research , 2005 .

[81]  Andrew C. Inkpen,et al.  Social Capital, Networks, and Knowledge Transfer , 2005 .

[82]  A. Muñiz,et al.  Religiosity in the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community , 2005 .

[83]  A. Herrmann,et al.  The Social Influence of Brand Community: Evidence from European Car Clubs , 2005 .

[84]  R. Peterson,et al.  In Search of Authenticity , 2005 .

[85]  Michelle Renee Nelson,et al.  Exploring cross-cultural ambivalence: a netnography of intercultural wedding message boards , 2005 .

[86]  Utpal M. Dholakia,et al.  Open Source Software User Communities: A Study of Participation in Linux User Groups , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[87]  M. Giesler.  Consumer Gift Systems , 2006 .

[88]  Cara Peters,et al.  The consumer quest for authenticity: The multiplicity of meanings within the MG subculture of consumption , 2006 .

[89]  D. Dalli,et al.  Working consumers: the next step in marketing theory? , 2009 .

[90]  Richard Nice,et al.  The Forms of Capital , 2022 .