Understanding users’ participation in online health communities: A social capital perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Informational Support ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
Social Capital Perspective

Due to the intense competition, it is crucial for online health communities to facilitate users’ participation and retain them. Drawing on the social capital theory, this research examined users’ participation in online health communities. The results indicated that social support, which includes informational support and emotional support, has a significant effect on social capital, which in turn affects users’ participation including health knowledge acquisition and contribution. The results imply that online health communities need to create a supportive climate in order to develop social capital and facilitate users’ participation.

Orchestrating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in an emerging country: The lead actor’s role from a social capital perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 767-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Porras-Paez ◽  
Jana Schmutzler
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Weak Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Resource Endowment ◽  
Emerging Country ◽  
Social Capital Perspective

During the recent years, the question of whether an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem emerges organically or is man-made has been disputed. This paper explores the case of an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in a developing country. We argue that in the context of lagging industrial development and weak institutions, a lead actor needs to step in to aid the emergence of an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. We argue that only a locally embedded actor who has the resource endowment and the legitimacy to do so can assume such a role. By applying social capital theory, we show that deliberate strategies by this lead actor to densify the social network within the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem will assist in establishing trust and future collaboration, which will result in productive entrepreneurship.

scholarly journals Knowledge sharing in online smoking cessation communities: a social capital perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenglong Li ◽  
Hongxiu Li ◽  
Reima Suomi ◽  
Yong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Structural Capital ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
Social Capital Perspective ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeAlthough knowledge sharing in online communities has been studied for many years, little is known about the determinants for individuals' knowledge sharing in online health communities (OHCs) surrounding smoking cessation. Examining the determinants of knowledge sharing in such OHCs from the social capital perspective may prove particularly enlightening.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire-based online user survey of two smoking cessation OHCs, one based in Finland and one based in China, was performed. Performing data analysis with partial least squares (SmartPLS 3.0), the authors developed a model conceptualizing the structural, cognitive and relational dimensions of social capital as drivers for knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, with users' stage in giving up smoking as a moderator.FindingsThe results show that structural capital (social ties) and relational capital (reciprocity) are important motivators behind knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, and the authors found a moderating effect of the stage in quitting on the antecedents' relationship with knowledge sharing in these OHCs.Originality/valueThe study enriches understanding of knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, contributing to theory and identifying practical implications for such groups' administration.

Understanding users’ contribution in open innovation communities: a social capital perspective

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Capital Perspective ◽  
Innovation Community

Purpose As users often lack the motivation to contribute their ideas and knowledge in open innovation communities, it is necessary to identify the determinants of users’ contribution. This paper aims to examine users’ contribution in open innovation communities based on the social capital theory. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected 474 valid responses from a survey and adopted structural equation modeling (SEM) to conduct data analysis. Findings The results indicated that social interaction, which includes informational and emotional interaction, has a significant effect on social capital, which in turn affects users’ contribution. Research limitations/implications The results imply that companies need to facilitate users’ interactions and develop social capital to promote their contribution in open innovation communities. Originality/value Although previous research has found the effect of individual motivations such as perceived benefits and behavioural control on innovation community users’ behaviour, it has seldom considered the effect of social capital embedded within the social relationship networking. This research tries to fill the gap and the results disclosed the mechanism underlying open innovation community users’ contribution.

scholarly journals Exploring the Factors Influencing Consumers to Voluntarily Reward Free Health Service Contributors in Online Health Communities: Empirical Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junjie Zhou ◽  
Fang Liu ◽  
Tingting Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Informational Support ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Norm Compliance ◽  
Health Communities

BACKGROUND Rewarding health knowledge and health service contributors with money is one possible approach for the sustainable provision of health knowledge and health services in online health communities (OHCs); however, the reasons why consumers voluntarily reward free health knowledge and health service contributors are still underinvestigated. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to address the abovementioned gap by exploring the factors influencing consumers’ voluntary rewarding behaviors (VRBs) toward contributors of free health services in OHCs. METHODS On the basis of prior studies and the cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST), we incorporated two health service content–related variables (ie, informational support and emotional support) and two interpersonal factors (ie, social norm compliance and social interaction) and built a proposed model. We crawled a dataset from a Chinese OHC for mental health, coded it, extracted nine variables, and tested the model with a negative binomial model. RESULTS The data sample included 2148 health-related questions and 12,133 answers. The empirical results indicated that the effects of informational support (β=.168; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), emotional support (β=.463; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), social norm compliance (β=.510; <i>P</i>&lt;.001), and social interaction (β=.281; <i>P</i>&lt;.001) were significant. The moderating effects of social interaction on informational support (β=.032; <i>P</i>=.02) and emotional support (β=−.086; <i>P</i>&lt;.001) were significant. The moderating effect of social interaction on social norm compliance (β=.014; <i>P</i>=.38) was insignificant. CONCLUSIONS Informational support, emotional support, social norm compliance, and social interaction positively influence consumers to voluntarily reward free online health service contributors. Social interaction enhances the effect of informational support but weakens the effect of emotional support. This study contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing in OHCs by exploring the factors influencing consumers’ VRBs toward free online health service contributors and contributes to the CEST literature by verifying that the effects of experiential and rational systems on individual behaviors can vary while external factors change.

scholarly journals Vendor Opportunism in it Outsourcing: A TCE and Social Capital Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Lioliou ◽  
Angelika Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Opportunistic Behavior ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Qualitative Case Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Social Capital Perspective ◽  
Significant Attention

Academic researchers have paid significant attention to the drivers of opportunistic behavior, yet our understanding of how opportunistic behavior can be mitigated remains relatively fragmented. Our investigation will focus on the social context and more specifically on the role of social capital in the deterrence of opportunistic behavior. On the basis of two qualitative case studies in the financial sector, we will illustrate how the structural, cognitive and relational dimensions of social capital can reduce internal and behavioral uncertainty between the outsourcing partners, thereby facilitating the mitigation of opportunistic behavior. In our study we combine the theory of transaction costs with social capital theory and demonstrate how they can usefully complement each other to enhance our understanding of mechanisms that can deter opportunistic behavior.

scholarly journals Exploring the Factors Influencing Consumers to Voluntarily Reward Free Health Service Contributors in Online Health Communities: Empirical Study

10.2196/16526 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. e16526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junjie Zhou ◽  
Fang Liu ◽  
Tingting Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Informational Support ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Norm Compliance ◽  
Health Communities

Background Rewarding health knowledge and health service contributors with money is one possible approach for the sustainable provision of health knowledge and health services in online health communities (OHCs); however, the reasons why consumers voluntarily reward free health knowledge and health service contributors are still underinvestigated. Objective This study aimed to address the abovementioned gap by exploring the factors influencing consumers’ voluntary rewarding behaviors (VRBs) toward contributors of free health services in OHCs. Methods On the basis of prior studies and the cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST), we incorporated two health service content–related variables (ie, informational support and emotional support) and two interpersonal factors (ie, social norm compliance and social interaction) and built a proposed model. We crawled a dataset from a Chinese OHC for mental health, coded it, extracted nine variables, and tested the model with a negative binomial model. Results The data sample included 2148 health-related questions and 12,133 answers. The empirical results indicated that the effects of informational support (β=.168; P<.001), emotional support (β=.463; P<.001), social norm compliance (β=.510; P<.001), and social interaction (β=.281; P<.001) were significant. The moderating effects of social interaction on informational support (β=.032; P=.02) and emotional support (β=−.086; P<.001) were significant. The moderating effect of social interaction on social norm compliance (β=.014; P=.38) was insignificant. Conclusions Informational support, emotional support, social norm compliance, and social interaction positively influence consumers to voluntarily reward free online health service contributors. Social interaction enhances the effect of informational support but weakens the effect of emotional support. This study contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing in OHCs by exploring the factors influencing consumers’ VRBs toward free online health service contributors and contributes to the CEST literature by verifying that the effects of experiential and rational systems on individual behaviors can vary while external factors change.

Social capital and the learning organization

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-219
Author(s):  
Wan Idros Wan Sulaiman ◽  
Maizatul Haizan Mahbob ◽  
Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Organizational Communication ◽  
Learning Organization ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pearson Correlation Test

Department of Information of Malaysia is one of the public organizations directly involved in the provision of information to the public. To ensure that all services rendered acceptable, organizational communication in the Department of Information should be given serious consideration so that each activity can be transformed properly. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess organizational communication in a learning organization in order to see the extent to which employees have a description of social capital and support to the organization of learning activities. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship that is formed through the social interactions between workers and management by integrating the four aspects of social capital, namely social trust, institutional trust, social norms and networking. For this purpose, a total of 190 respondents from the Information Department headquarters staff in Putrajaya was selected for this study. The study uses questionnaires as research tool and analyses key findings using the Pearson correlation test to examine relationships between various aspects. The study also applied social capital theory as the basis of research framework the when analyzing findings. The results showed that staff describe positive social capital within the organization and consider organizational learning as a strategy to improve the performance of the department in the future.

scholarly journals Alternative approaches in the conceptualization of social capital

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (174-175) ◽  
pp. 152-167
Author(s):  
Natasa Golubovic ◽  
Srdjan Golubovic
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Consistent Theory ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Theoretical Position ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

Despite the great interest for the concept and a considerable number of papers that deal with the subject of social capital, yet there is no unique and consistent definition of social capital. Forming a consistent theory of social capital is hindered by the presence of several different approaches in the analysis of this phenomenon. Depending on the author?s theoretical position in the definition of social capital or the analysis of its sources, components and outcomes, the emphasis rests on different social processes and relationships. The aim of this paper is to analyze alternative approaches in the conceptualization of social capital, their advantages and shortfalls, and their implications for the development of the social capital theory.

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