Technological and Community Factors that Influence Online Trust and Knowledge Sharing ——A Model Based on Virtual Community

Knowledge sharing is common place online nowadays. Drawing from trust literature, we find trust mechanism behind knowledge sharing behavior may lead to useful implications. However, there exists a gap between theoretical and managerial perspective on the role of trust especially in online knowledge transfer. This study will try to study how technological and community factors influence trust formation and lead to knowledge sharing behaviors in online virtual communities. By exploring how extrinsic drivers affect trust elements, we combine practical technology and community design issues with theoretical trust foundations. Empirical research is under way to confirm our hypotheses.