Determinants of trust and use in virtual communities

Virtual communities have become hot topic in the popular press and MIS research. Community sites are one of the fastest growing categories of Web-sites, and the virtual communities themselves are growing. Understanding virtual communities is crucial to organizations that want to tap into their enormous information potential. By sponsoring and cultivating virtual communities that give customers the ability to interact with each other and with the company itself, businesses can build new and deeper relationships with customers. Businesses can obtain demographic information about their target market and likes and dislikes regarding products. Since virtual communities are places where computer mediated communication takes place, they involve social exchange of information and social support. Trust has been found in the literature to be an essential ingredient in social exchange, and thus must be present in the virtual community. However, little empirical research exists to support theories of trust development in virtual communities and what motivates people to use virtual communities. The purpose of this research is to study trust and the motivations to use a virtual community, and the interaction between these two concepts. The results gathered from 663 virtual community members suggest that trust has two dimensions, not three as had been found previously in some other settings. Trust was composed of trust in abilities, and trust in benevolence/integrity. Responsiveness, the degree to which others confide personal information and disposition to trust were found to build trust. Stability in the community was found to be negatively related to trust, meaning that new people in the community were associated with higher levels of trust. This may indicate that new people with new ideas and contributions add an element of confidence and faith to the community. Several measures of use, such as hours spent in the community and posting behavior, were found to be influenced by the desire to exchange information and exchange social support. Finally, the moderating effects of trust on the desire-use relationship were found to be significant in very few cases, suggesting that trust does not moderate the relationship. Implications and areas for further research are discussed.