{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T21:17:14Z","timestamp":1767907034326,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,17]],"date-time":"2019-06-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1560729600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["LHT"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,17]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>Exploring the antecedents of members community participation is extremely important for virtual communities (VCs) research and practice. As an important social characteristic of individuals, social embeddedness has been proved as an important antecedent of many individual behaviors; however, few research has investigated the influence of virtual community members social embeddedness on virtual community members\u2019 participation. To fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between social embeddedness and community participation in VCs.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>This paper conducted empirical study to test the hypotheses. Based on existing scales, this research designed the questionnaire and used a web-based survey to collect the data from VCs in China. To avoid the common method bias, this study collected data at two different times. The final sample included 96 virtual community members from seven communities (community size ranging from 10 to 25) of Baidu Tieba, which is the largest Chinese online communication platform. And this paper used regression models to analysis the data.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>Based on social network theory, this paper found that virtual community members\u2019 social embeddedness in their virtual community has a curvilinear (i.e. inverted U-shaped) effect on their community participation behaviors. And members\u2019 perceived autonomy mediates the curvilinear (i.e. reversed U-shaped) relationship between social network embeddedness and community participation. Furthermore, member instability moderates the curvilinear (i.e. inverted U-shaped) main effect, such that the curvilinear relationship is weakened when member instability is high.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>Departing from previous virtual community studies that examine antecedences of participation in linear logic, this study applied social network theory to create a complex, curvilinear, moderated mediation model. The result reveals a curvilinear (i.e. inverted U-shaped) relationship between virtual community members\u2019 social embeddedness in the virtual community and their community participation. And this study also introduce autonomy as mediator and member instability as moderator. By testing the whole model between community members\u2019 social embeddedness and community participation, this study contributes to deepen the understanding of social embeddedness and virtual community participation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/lht-09-2018-0133","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,12]],"date-time":"2019-06-12T05:55:04Z","timestamp":1560318904000},"page":"625-637","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Support while control: the influence of embeddedness on virtual community participation"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"38","author":[{"given":"Xiao","family":"Deng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Bo","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Lei","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2020092904415887600_ref001","volume-title":"Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions","year":"1991","edition":"3rd ed."},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020092904415887600_ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"64","DOI":"10.1108\/13673270310463626","article-title":"Motivation and barriers to participation in virtual knowledge-sharing communities of practice","volume":"7","year":"2003","journal-title":"Journal of Knowledge Management"},{"issue":"11","key":"key2020092904415887600_ref003","first-page":"69","article-title":"Social support in the adjustment of pregnant adolescents: assessment issues","volume":"4","year":"1981","journal-title":"Social Networks and Social Support"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020092904415887600_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"186","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.aje.a112674","article-title":"Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: a nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents","volume":"109","year":"1979","journal-title":"American Journal of Epidemiology"},{"key":"key2020092904415887600_ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.2307\/25148669","article-title":"Behavioral intention formation in knowledge sharing: examining the roles of extrinsic motivators, social-psychological forces, and organizational climate","volume":"29","year":"2005","journal-title":"MIS Quarterly"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020092904415887600_ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"991","DOI":"10.1016\/S0149-2063(03)00087-4","article-title":"The network paradigm in organizational research: a review and typology","volume":"29","year":"2003","journal-title":"Journal of Management"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020092904415887600_ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"518","DOI":"10.2307\/2392937","article-title":"Being in the right place: a structural analysis of individual influence in an organization","volume":"29","year":"1984","journal-title":"Administrative Science Quarterly"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2020092904415887600_ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"795","DOI":"10.2307\/20159624","article-title":"Taking stock of networks and organizations: a multilevel perspective","volume":"47","year":"2004","journal-title":"Academy of Management Journal"},{"key":"key2020092904415887600_ref009","unstructured":"Brislin, R.W. 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