Building Member Attachment in Online Communities: Applying Theories of Group Identity and Interpersonal Bonds

Abstract

Online communities are increasingly important to organizations and the general public, but there is little theoretically based research on what makes some online communities more successful than others. In this article, we apply theory from the field of social psychology to understand how online communities develop member attachment, an important dimension of community success. We implemented and empirically tested two sets of community features for building member attachment by strengthening either group identity or interpersonal bonds. To increase identity-based attachment, we gave members information about group activities and intergroup competition, and tools for group-level communication. To increase bond-based attachment, we gave members information about the activities of individual members and interpersonal similarity, and tools for interpersonal communication. Results from a six-month field experiment show that participants' visit frequency and self-reported attachment increased in both conditions. Community features intended to foster identity-based attachment had stronger effects than features intended to foster bond-based attachment. Participants in the identity condition with access to group profiles and repeated exposure to their group's activities visited their community twice as frequently as participants in other conditions. The new features also had stronger effects on newcomers than on old-timers. This research illustrates how theory from the social science literature can be applied to gain a more systematic understanding of online communities and how theory-inspired features can improve their success.

Understanding online community citizenship behaviors through social support and social identity

“…Accordingly, a possible explanation for the difference is that some expectant mothers are more easily induced to feel happy and satisfied with online social life given the same level of self-esteem. Ren et al's (2012) study urged researchers to move beyond the focus on just one type of beneficial behaviors in the online community, i.e., knowledge sharing or helping others. They suggested that identification with (i.e., attachment to) the groups in an online community leads to identification with the large online community as a whole, which in turn leads to participation and retention.…”

“…The social support path links social support to coping resources, subjective well-being and OCCB, whereas the social identity path links characteristics of the online support community to community identification and OCCB. Although prior research has discussed the impact of various characteristics of online communities on identification (e.g., Ren et al, 2012), we are aware of no study which has tested the underlying causal mechanism or empirically confirmed the impact of online social support on subjective well-being. Our findings, based on survey data collected from 159 users of online support communities, support the assertion that social support and the characteristics of online support communities are crucial determinants of subjective well-being and community identification, respectively, both of which foster OCCB.…”

“…Thus, people who are strongly identified with an online support community should be more likely to be committed to, invest in, and even make sacrifices for the community, resulting in pro-social actions that benefit the online support community and others within the community. For example, individuals may develop an identity-based attachment to a group within the online community, which increases their willingness to help the group (Ren et al, 2012). Ray, Kim, & Morris (2014) also suggest that individuals who experience a strong identification with an online community may have a sense of community engagement, which motivates them to contribute knowledge and promote the community via word of mouth (Ray et al, 2014).…”

The impacts of technological environments and co-creation experiences on customer participation

“…Given the importance of visual appeal in influencing thoughts and behaviors (Liu et al 2013), it may also motivate more social interactions among customers. These social interactions bring customers together and facilitate them to build stronger interpersonal bonds, that is, creating, enhancing, and sustaining ties among them (Kreijns et al 2007, Ren et al 2012). Hence, we hypothesize:…”

“…Therefore, visual appeal of a site fulfills customers' needs and acts as a significant switching cost for customers who become to depend on it (Schau et al 2009). This will instill and strengthen their feelings of belongingness and social identification with this site (Ren et al 2012). Given the importance of visual appeal in influencing thoughts and behaviors (Liu et al 2013), it may also motivate more social interactions among customers.…”