National culture and its effects on knowledge communication in online virtual communities

• Main Authors: SIAU, Keng, NAH, Fiona Fui-hoon, LING, Min
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2007
• Subjects: Online virtual communities; knowledge acquisition; knowledge dissemination; national culture; electronic business; Communication Technology and New Media; Databases and Information Systems; Social Media
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/9486; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/10486/viewcontent/IJEB55Paper5.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Online virtual communities provide a powerful means of knowledge sharing. Despite the prevalence of online virtual communities, there is a paucity of research to investigate the effect of national culture differences on knowledge sharing in online virtual communities. Are there differences between online virtual communities from different national cultures? This research studies the differences in knowledge-sharing activities between US-based and China-based online virtual communities. Hofstede's dimensions of national culture serve as the theoretical foundation for this research.