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ABSTRACT
In an effort to encourage users to participate rather than lurk, online health forums provide authority badges (e.g., guru) to frequent contributors and popularity indicators (e.g., number of views) to their postings. Studies have shown the latter to be more effective, implying that bulletin-board users are motivated by external validation of their contributions. However, no consideration has yet been given to individual differences in the influence of such popularity indicators. Personality psychology suggests that individuals with external, rather than internal, locus of control are more likely to be other-directed and therefore more likely to be motivated by interface cues showing the bandwagon effect of their online posts. We investigate this hypothesis by analyzing data from a 2 (high vs. low authority cue) × 2 (strong vs. weak bandwagon cue) experiment with an online health community. Results show that strong bandwagon cues promote sense of community among users with internal, rather than external, locus of control. When bandwagon cues are weak, bestowal of high authority serves to heighten their sense of agency. Contrary to prediction, weak bandwagon cues appear to promote sense of community and sense of agency among those with external locus of control. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Notes
1 It should be noted that more females generally seek health information online than males (see Fox & Jones, Citation2009).
2 The analysis reported here does not use any data from this initial evaluation of the website. They are reported in Kim and Sundar (Citation2011).
3 The cross-loading of seven items between SOA and SOC is unsurprising in the context of online message boards because the sense of agency that one obtains from activities in such forums is derived in part from the response that one gets from other members of the community. Therefore, SOA and SOC are likely to be more correlated in online message boards than in blogs (for which these scales were originally developed).