Link Virtual Community Interaction and Citizenship Behavior of Fitness Club Customers: The Role of Psychological Empowerment and Sense of Community

Abstract

Through social exchange theory, this study explores the relationship of virtual social interaction on customer citizenship behavior. By using a sample of 363 fitness enthusiasts from China, this study found that the three dimensions of virtual community interaction have a positive impact on customer citizenship behavior. Moreover, this study found that psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between the three dimensions of virtual community interaction and customer citizenship behavior. Secondly, this study also found that the effect of virtual community interaction on psychological empowerment was conditional on a sense of community. The results of this study suggested that managers should pay attention to the important role of user interaction in a virtual community and guide users to form high-quality interactions. Furthermore, managers should also pay attention to the importance of customer citizenship behavior to make users as employees participate in the interaction in a virtual community to enrich the integrity of the interaction. Lastly, managers need to pay attention to users’ sense of belonging and identity regarding the virtual community and encourage users to obtain incentives through the combination of online and offline activities to create the most benefits for the virtual community of fitness clubs.