Effects of Personality Traits on Member Loyalty to Online Communities: Investigation from the Views of Relationship Proneness, Relational Benefits, and Relationship Quality

Abstract

The ubiquity of the Internet has accelerated the growth of online communities. The administrators of such communities must consider not only how to recruit new members, but also how to encourage loyalty among existing members. Based on previous works, the present study explored the relationships among personality traits, relationship proneness, relational benefits, relationship quality, and loyalty in the context of online communities. The research sample comprised 599 online community members. The results indicated the positive effects of social affiliation and involvement on relationship proneness, of relationship proneness on relational benefits, of relational benefits on satisfaction and relationship commitment, of satisfaction on relationship commitment and loyalty, and of relationship commitment on loyalty.