2012 Symposium Posters

Project Members
Jing Zhao, Ph.D.1, Kathleen Abrahamson, Ph.D., RN2, 1Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907

Objectives: With the development of internet technology, more and more people utilize patient online communities (POC) to seek useful health information and empathetic support. POCs are a unique type of virtual communityies and have attracted increasing research interest. Although there are critical factors for developing and maintaining a successful POC, few studies examine the influence of trust, empathy, and social identity on members’ contribution of information and knowledge within the POC context. We aim to examine how trust and social identity influence empathy, which in turn motivates individuals to contribute knowledge within POC and how social identity also directly affects POC members’ knowledge contribution. Design: This study examines the impacts of trust and social identity on knowledge contribution through the mediation effect of empathy. The direct relationship between social identity and knowledge contribution is also studiedincluded in this model. Measurements: An online survey was conducted in three health related online communities. A confirmatory factor analysis was perrformedperformed and a structural equation modeling was constructed toconstructed to test the proposed model. Results: Results indicate that trust and the development of a sense of social identity within the community are necessary antecedents to the development of empathy, which in turn influences members’ willingness to contribute personal knowledge and experience. or information. Social Social identity also directly motivates members’ to contribute knowledge. In contrast to other studies that have emphasized threthe importance of providing tools that make information seeking more efficient, the fFindings of our study highlight the importance of trust, empathy and a sense of group cohesiveness within online health settings that motivzatemotivates members to contribute knowledge and support to other participants in the POC.