Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

1-2019

Abstract

Trading communities provide non-commercial members with an online platform on which to exchange goods. Its success depends on member participation; however, little is known about its drivers. Based on literature we identify five drivers. To capture their impact over time,we test a latent growth curve model with longitudinal data, comparing the effects at an initial point of time with their impact on the growth of member participation over three subsequent periods. The results show that providers’ responsiveness and community identification have a positive effect on the initial level, but not on growth. Members’ enjoyment has no level effect, but a growth effect. Only role clarity has an impact on level and growth. Interestingly, co-members’ cooperation weakens member participation, which leads us to conclude that too much cooperation – which appears as professionalism in a trading community – ‘kills’ member participation. We conclude with theoretical and managerial implications.

Discipline

Marketing

Research Areas

Marketing

Publication

SMR: Journal of Service Management Research

Volume

3

Issue

2

First Page

54

Last Page

65

ISSN

2511-8676

Identifier

10.15358/2511-8676-2019-2-54

Publisher

Nomos

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.15358/2511-8676-2019-2-54

Included in

Marketing Commons

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