Understanding the sustainability of virtual communities in China

The sustainability of virtual communities is determined by the extent to which users are willing to continue using the supported virtual space. Building upon the information system continuance model and the information adoption model, a research model explaining user continuance intention to use virtual communities (e.g., Web-based Bulletin Board Systems) is proposed. The proposed model was tested using an online survey with the users of a non-profit-making Bulletin Board System established by a local university in mainland China. The results suggest that satisfaction and information usefulness are the two key factors influencing users' continuance intention to use virtual communities. Satisfaction in turn is determined by information usefulness and source credibility, while information usefulness is determined by both information quality and source credibility. Surprisingly, information quality does not have any significant direct impact on user satisfaction. The findings provide important implications for both researchers and practitioners.