Abstract
This paper works to increase the body of knowledge on virtual community and incorporates a comparison using a different cultural environment – the context of China. We examine a virtual community of one of the largest travel companies in China - Mango. The Mango virtual community provides a platform for people to get to know each other, offer help and receive help when they have tourism related questions. The purpose of this study is to 1) investigate the usage pattern of a tourism virtual community, 2) apply social capital theory to virtual community, 3) validate prior virtual community research findings in a non-Western (China) tourism context 4) provide implications based on the analysis of user posting patterns. Our results also show collective action is generated by networks of relationships, reciprocity, trust, and social norms.
Recommended Citation
Yang, Xueyan; Zhang, Xiaoni; and Martz, Ben, "Examining Virtual Tourism Community in China" (2010). AMCIS 2010 Proceedings. 116.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2010/116