The Role of Social Factors and Participation in User Responses to Advertising in Online Communities

With the rapid growth of online communities and number of community users, advertisers are paying increasing attention to this digital medium by searching for new ways to harness online communities for advertising purposes. However, the changing trend towards commercialism in online communities is often at odds with community users?demand for uninterrupted user experience. The conflicting desires pose challenges to online communities that must balance the tradeoff between advertising revenue and user experience. Drawing on the sociology and advertising literature, this study investigates the impact of social identity and group norms on group intentions to respond to advertising in online communities. In particular, by outlining how community users?participations can moderate the impact of group intention on advertising responses, the study pinpoints the underlying social mechanisms that drive community users?responses to community advertising. The study conceptual model is tested with a sample of Chinese community users and general support for the study hypotheses is obtained. Implications for strategy planning by online communities and advertisers are discussed.