Use and Participation in Virtual Social Networks: a Theoretical Model

Managers are increasingly interested in the social web as it provides numerous opportunities for strengthening and expanding relationships with customers. Firms want to leverage the willingness of consumers to join and contribute to virtual social networks in many ways. Firms rely on users to provide product support in online help forums, to create product reviews in e-tailing, and to post blogs, photos, videos, bookmarks and conversation in advertising-supported online models. Despite this, the network processes that lead to these user-based assets are poorly understood. In this paper we explore factors influencing use and participation in virtual social networks. We begin by discussing some unusual drivers and inhibitors present with virtual social networks – highlighted by the presence of positive network externalities, as well as of fears that the content will be misused. We next discuss the relevant theoretical background to the phenomenon of online social networks. Finally, we will offer hypotheses stemming from a model of how all these factors work together, test the model with a dataset collected from two different virtual social networks, and discuss the implications of our work. Findings offer managers insights on how to nurture web 2.0 processes.