Why people lurk in theme-oriented virtual communities: integrating achievement goal theory and cognitive dissonance theory

Abstract

Introduction. Lurking behaviour not only causes little user-generated content online, but also slows down the development of theme-oriented virtual communities. For managers of theme-oriented virtual communities, understanding the antecedents of lurking behaviour is a key way to obtain competitive advantages. Therefore, this study proposes a model and examines the determinants of lurking behaviour on virtual communities of motorcycle modification by combining achievement goal theory and cognitive dissonance theory. Method. This study uses an online questionnaire to collect data from 326 respondents. Analysis. The model is tested by multiple regression analysis. Results. Analytical results show that mastery-approach goal and performance-approach goal negatively affect lurking behaviour, whereas performance-avoidance goal and cognitive dissonance have positive impacts on lurking behaviour. Conclusions. This study adopts mastery-approach goal and mastery-avoidance goal concepts, together with the concept of help-seeking in acquiring information and applies them to explain lurking behaviour on theme-oriented virtual communities. Theoretical and practical contributions are also outlined.