Dimensions of online community attributes : Examination of online communities hosted by companies in Korea

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop online community attributes based on Preece's sociability and usability framework to assess how online community attributes hosted by retailers or national brand companies may generate positive outcomes for consumers. Also, this study seeks to examine the effects of attribute dimensions on consumer benefits to verify its predictability. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was administered in South Korea. A questionnaire was constructed which contained 26 items measuring online community attributes. These items were developed by the researchers to measure seven dimensions defining Preece's sociability and usability conceptual framework. The items were based on examples of determinants and measures of successful online communities. The Korean sample consisted of 135 male and 216 female adults in a large metropolitan area in South Korea. Findings – Results partially supported Preece's sociability and usability framework. Results show three online community attribute dimensions purpose, people, and policy to be represented by a higher order factor sociability and two attribute dimensions dialogue and social interaction and navigation represented by usability. The structural model testing the relationship between sociability and social benefits and usability and functional benefits was confirmed and proved predictive validity for the online community attribute dimensions and the sociability/usability framework. On the other hand, no evidence of sociability influencing perceptions of functional benefits and usability influencing perceptions of social benefits could be found. Nonetheless, these results provide evidence that Preece's online community attribute framework measures “success” from a consumer benefits standpoint. Originality/value – This study provides retailers and companies who host online communities with a practical tool with which they can assess their online communities as well as their online strategy.