Research on the Mechanism of Online Community Users' Participation in Community Value Co-creation-Based on Social Capital Theory

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of economic and social invitation strategies on online community users' social capital (structural, cognitive, and relational dimensions) and their willingness to engage in value co-creation activities, grounded in social capital theory. Data were collected from 418 ordinary users of the Xiaomi community and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that economic reward strategies significantly enhance structural and cognitive social capital, whereas social invitation strategies positively influence cognitive and relational social capital. Structural social capital is found to affect the initiation of value co-creation activities, cognitive social capital impacts both initiation and participation, and relational social capital influences participation only. Moreover, social capital mediates the relationship between incentive strategies and users' willingness to co-create value. This study enriches the application of social capital theory in the context of value co-creation communities and provides a deeper understanding of the micro-mechanisms underlying user participation behaviors.