Social environment of virtual collaboration using mobile social media

Abstract

Mobile social media such as WhatsApp and WeChat greatly facilitate virtual collaboration within and across organizations. Based on the theory of self-interest and collective action, this study investigates how social environment influences user behavior. Corresponding to social capital, weak ties, and adoption thresholds, extrinsic motivation, communication climate and top management support are identified respectively as the main factors of member environment, group environment and organization environment that impact virtual collaboration. The research model hypothesizes that these social-level variables interact with the psychological processes related to technology use at the individual level. The survey results from virtual teams provide supporting evidence to most hypothesized relationships. The findings yield some interesting theoretical and practical implications for the collaborative use of social information systems.