An empirical investigation of the effects of size on strength of relationshipand commitment in a virtual community

Abstract

Although researchers have pointed out relationships among members as being essential for the building of commitment towards a community, there is still insufficient attention placed on this in virtual community research. Furthermore, the effect of size on this relational aspect of virtual community has also been given little emphasis in the existing literature despite being acknowledged by extant research as a critical factor in the building of strong relationships. In an attempt to bridge this gap, we adopt a Social Network approach and use Social Capital Theory as the theoretical perspective to investigate how size, strength of relationship and member's commitment interplay in a virtual community along with the role of information technology on the effects of size. This study is expected to provide a useful framework for practitioners to manage virtual community through management of the size and the relationships among members within the community.