Towards Factors Stimulating Knowledge Sharing on Virtual Communities

Knowledge sharing is an important process, and one effective way to support it is to connect people. Virtual communities can be a significant source of value for participants provided that members are willing to contribute valuable knowledge to the communities. Thus understanding members’ motives for knowledge contribution and identifying the determinants of the motivations are the goals of this study. In this paper, we discuss two main theories that affect virtual knowledge sharing behaviors. We explain role of social exchange and social capital and determine their criteria in light of virtual community context. In concluding according to what will be discussed during paper, the conceptual research model will be presented.

کلیدواژه ها:

Virtual Community ، Knowledge Sharing ، Social Exchange ، Social Capital