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Sustainable virtual communities: suggestions from the colonial model

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Abstract

While virtual community research has contributed to the understanding of the virtual community sustainability, a need for a systematic model exists. In this paper, we propose a model of sustainable virtual communities based on the sustainability properties of animal colonies in nature. The premise of our model is that if we manage to replicate the sustainability properties of colonial systems in virtual communities, they can become longer lasting. We also present the results of an exploratory case study. The study shows that colonial properties form a construct that predicts member perceptions of their community being sustainable. While our primary objective is the conceptual introduction of the colonial principles of sustainability, the case study provides some early indications that these principles may help design systems that can bind virtual communities more permanently.

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Notes

  1. Exceptions include empirical studies by Ostrom (1990), Markus et al. (2000) and Butler (2001).

  2. Chidambaram (1996) study of students over a 4-week period using Group Support Systems showed this time frame did allow for attitudes and perceptions to shift and stabilize.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Wynne Chin, Blake Ives and Sirkka Jarvenpaa for their invaluable feedback during the various phases of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. C.T. Bauer College of Business Department of Decision and Information Sciences Melcher Hall 280G, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204-6282, USA

    Jaana Porra

  2. C.T. Bauer College of Business Department of Decision and Information Sciences Melcher Hall 280E, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204-6282, USA

    Michael S. Parks

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  1. Jaana Porra
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Correspondence to Jaana Porra.

Appendices

Appendices

Table 2 Reflective and single item measures
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Table 3 Formative item measures
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Table 4 Correlations among multi-reflective item constructs (with the square root of the AVE in diagonals)
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Table 5 Test of discriminant validity—loadings and cross loadings for multi-reflective item constructs
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Porra, J., Parks, M.S. Sustainable virtual communities: suggestions from the colonial model. ISeB 4, 309–341 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-005-0002-9

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