What drives consumer knowledge sharing in online travel communities?: Personal attributes or e-service factors?

Consumer voluntary sharing of e-service knowledge in an online community is of great value to both business and consumers. This study develops and tests a research model integrating two personal attributes (consumer innovativeness and subjective knowledge) and two e-service factors (perceived ease of use and usefulness) in predicting consumer voluntary knowledge sharing in an online community. Data were collected using a web-based survey of 364 airline travelers recruited through an online travel community in China. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to analyze the data. The results reveal that personal factors are stronger drivers of knowledge sharing than e-service factors. This study advances consumer knowledge sharing in online communities, and has implications for enhancing a firm's e-service strategies. Examination of the impacts of both personal and e-service factors in knowledge sharing.The impacts of personal attributes are stronger than e-service factors.Subjective knowledge partially mediates innovativeness impact.Perceived usefulness partially mediates perceived ease of the user's impact.

[1]  Pierre Desmet.  Asking for less to obtain more , 1999 .

[2]  Dwayne D. Gremler,et al.  Understanding Relationship Marketing Outcomes , 2002 .

[3]  A. Bandura.  Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency , 2024, Psihologìâ ì suspìlʹstvo.

[4]  Eric T. G. Wang,et al.  Understanding knowledge sharing in virtual communities: An integration of social capital and social cognitive theories , 2006, Decis. Support Syst..

[5]  Grant Packard,et al.  Compensatory Knowledge Signaling in Consumer Word-of-Mouth , 2013 .

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

[7]  E. Rogers,et al.  Diffusion of innovations , 1964, Encyclopedia of Sport Management.

[8]  M. Mount,et al.  RELATIONSHIP OF PERSONALITY TRAITS AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORK BEHAVIORS: THE MEDIATING EFFECTS OF JOB SATISFACTION , 2006 .

[9]  Chih-Chien Wang,et al.  Personality and intention to share knowledge: An empirical study of scientists in an R&D Laboratory , 2007 .

[10]  Peter A. Dacin,et al.  Spreading the word: Investigating antecedents of consumers’ positive word-of-mouth intentions and behaviors in a retailing context , 2005 .

[11]  A. S. Cantallops,et al.  International Journal of Hospitality Management New Consumer Behavior: a Review of Research on Ewom and Hotels , 2022 .

[12]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models , 1989 .

[13]  Tanja Jadin,et al.  Personality traits and knowledge sharing in online communities , 2013, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[14]  Fred Bronner,et al.  Vacationers and eWOM: Who Posts, and Why, Where, and What? , 2011 .

[15]  Elizabeth B. Goldsmith,et al.  Innovative Consumers and Market Mavens , 2003 .

[16]  M. Meuter,et al.  Self‐service technology adoption: comparing three technologies , 2005 .

[17]  Frank R. Kardes,et al.  The role of the social-identity function of attitudes in consumer innovativeness and opinion leadership , 2000 .

[18]  Nicola Stokburger-Sauer,et al.  Consumer advisors revisited: What drives those with market mavenism and opinion leadership tendencies and why? , 2009 .

[19]  G. Roehrich.  Consumer innovativeness: Concepts and measurements , 2004 .

[20]  Charles F. Hofacker,et al.  Measuring consumer innovativeness , 1991 .

[21]  L. Flynn,et al.  A Short, Reliable Measure of Subjective Knowledge , 1999 .

[22]  Kyung Hyan Yoo,et al.  What Motivates Consumers to Write Online Travel Reviews? , 2008, J. Inf. Technol. Tour..

[23]  M. Wedel,et al.  A CROSS -NATIONAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE INDIVIDUAL AND NATIONAL CULTURAL ANTECEDENTS OF CONSUMER INNOVATIVENESS , 1999 .

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

[25]  Seounmi Youn,et al.  Online Word-of-Mouth (or Mouse): An Exploration of Its Antecedents and Consequences , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[26]  Marko Sarstedt,et al.  PLS-SEM: Indeed a Silver Bullet , 2011 .

[27]  David L. Mothersbaugh,et al.  Consumer Knowledge Assessment , 1994 .

[28]  Chih-Ping Wei,et al.  Finding experts in online forums for enhancing knowledge sharing and accessibility , 2015, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[29]  Guan-Lin Chen,et al.  Sense of Virtual Community and Knowledge Contribution in a P3 Virtual Community: Motivation and Experience , 2013, Internet Res..

[30]  Hans van Buuren,et al.  The role of knowledge sharing self-efficacy in sharing Open Educational Resources , 2014, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[31]  James F. Engel,et al.  Word-of-mouth Communication by the Innovator , 1969 .

[32]  M. Leary,et al.  Self-presentation in everyday interactions: effects of target familiarity and gender composition. , 1994, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[33]  D. DavisFred,et al.  User Acceptance of Computer Technology , 1989 .

[34]  Yong Liu,et al.  Understanding post-adoption behaviors of e-service users in the context of online travel services , 2014, Inf. Manag..

[35]  Fred D. Davis.  Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology , 1989, MIS Q..

[36]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Self-Service Technologies: Understanding Customer Satisfaction with Technology-Based Service Encounters , 2000 .

[37]  Hae Young Lee,et al.  A study of the impact of personal innovativeness on online travel shopping behavior—A case study of Korean travelers , 2007 .

[38]  M. Brucks.  The Effects of Product Class Knowledge on Information Search Behavior , 1985 .

[39]  Misook Heo,et al.  Supporting sustained willingness to share knowledge with visual feedback , 2016, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[40]  Leslie H. Vincent,et al.  Objective and Subjective Knowledge Relationships: A Quantitative Analysis of Consumer Research Findings , 2009 .

[41]  U. Dholakia,et al.  Communal Service Delivery , 2009 .

[42]  Fred Selnes,et al.  Subjective and Objective Measures of Product Knowledge Contrasted , 1986 .

[43]  D. McAdams,et al.  Personality development: continuity and change over the life course. , 2010, Annual review of psychology.

[44]  B. Pan,et al.  A retrospective view of electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management , 2017 .

[45]  Chao-Min Chiu,et al.  In justice we trust: Exploring knowledge-sharing continuance intentions in virtual communities of practice , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[46]  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..

[47]  Christy M. K. Cheung,et al.  Why users keep answering questions in online question answering communities: A theoretical and empirical investigation , 2013, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[48]  Yong Liu.  Word-of-Mouth for Movies: Its Dynamics and Impact on Box Office Revenue , 2006 .

[49]  L. A. Pervin.  Science of Personality , 1942 .

[50]  Edward C. S. Ku.  Distributed Fascinating Knowledge Over an Online Travel Community , 2014 .

[51]  C. Flavián,et al.  Determinants of the intention to participate in firm-hosted online travel communities and effects on consumer behavioral intentions , 2010 .

[52]  Romin W. Tafarodi,et al.  Decomposing global self-esteem. , 2002, Journal of personality.

[53]  K. Chan,et al.  Understanding consumer-to-consumer interactions in virtual communities : the salience of reciprocity , 2010 .

[54]  Jenny Fry,et al.  Factors affecting knowledge sharing in the virtual organisation: Employees' sense of well-being as a mediating effect , 2015, Comput. Hum. Behav..

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

[56]  Charles F. Hofacker,et al.  The Influence of Personality on Active and Passive Use of Social Networking Sites , 2011 .

[57]  Ko de Ruyter,et al.  Beyond the Call of Duty: Why Customers Contribute to Firm-hosted Commercial Online Communities , 2007 .

[58]  T. Judge,et al.  Relationship of personality to performance motivation: a meta-analytic review. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[59]  Birgit Renzl,et al.  Personality traits and knowledge sharing , 2008 .

[60]  Ingoo Han,et al.  The impact of Web quality and playfulness on user acceptance of online retailing , 2007, Inf. Manag..

[61]  Thanos Papadopoulos,et al.  Exploring the determinants of knowledge sharing via employee weblogs , 2013, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[62]  R. Oliver.  A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions , 1980 .

[63]  J. Sweeney,et al.  The effect of knowledge types on consumer-perceived risk and adoption of genetically modified foods , 2007 .

[64]  Tsung Teng Chen,et al.  Knowledge sharing in interest online communities: A comparison of posters and lurkers , 2014, Comput. Hum. Behav..