Virtual Communities of tourism professionals in the Internet: Analysis of the

factors for knowledge generation

Oriol Miralbelljmiralbell@uoc.edu

UOC – Open University of Catalonia

Motivation: Why this research issue?

• Online Social Networks are getting used by many virtual communities of professionals for information exchange and relationship

• Tourism is mainly an atomized industry made by SMEs with a frequent professional mobility and thus an important loss of tacit knowledge

• Knowledge generation is scarce inside and among tourism companies

• The web 2.0 and online social networks seem to furnish real opportunities to break the traditional communication barriers between tourism professionals and help knowledge exchange and generation

Research questions- Are VC of TP of professionals in Tourism generating Knowledge? (Wenger : Communities of Practice (1998), Wellman; VC, (1999)]-Do determinants of cooperative / connective learning impact positively for knowledge generation in VC of TP using online social media? [Wenger : CoP (1998), Siemens (2005), Downes (2001): Connectivism] - How do online social media affect knowledge generation in VC of TP? [DeLone & McLean – IS Success (2003)]

Main goalAnalyze the impact in knowledge generation of the different determinant factors of ISs’ users’ satisfaction , of the intention to participate in VC and of cooperative learning.

Methodology

Internet survey (invitation to app. 10.000 tourism professionals and to members of different VC: Turismo 2.0, Tourism 2.0, groups in LinkedIn and Facebook..)

Analysis of data with SEM based on a new model designed after integrating already existing analysis models: IS success model and a Community Marketing Model, with a new designed Connective learning model

Expected results

• System’s user satisfaction affects positively knowledge generation inside Virtual Communities of tourism professionals (VCoTP)

• Connective learning affects positively knowledge generation inside VCoTP

• Participation and loyalty affect positively Knowledge generation inside VCoTP

• There exist significant relations between these three variables to achieve knowledge generation inside VC of TP.

Some difficultiesThe combination of different models and the

validation of the new model with SEM

The creation of a common framework that can integrate different disciplinesCommunities of practiceVirtual communities / social networksCooperative learningInformation systems success

ENTER 2010 RESEARCH TRACK 8

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