Exploring the Determinants of Perceived Irreplaceability in Online Community

摘要

With the rapid development of online community, it is a challenge for many community operators to retain existing users. By integrating perceived investment and perceived benefit that user achieves through online community usage, we propose a research model to investigate the determinants of perceived irreplaceability of online community users. Based on the data collected from 336 users of online community, we empirically test the proposed model. The results of structural equation modeling analysis indicate that personalization, learning and hedonic value jointly determine online users’ perceived irreplaceability.