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Although collective trolling poses a growing threat to both individuals and virtual community owners, the information systems (IS) literature lacks a rich theorization of this phenomenon. To address the research gaps, we introduce the concept of we-intention to capture the collective nature of collective trolling in virtual communities. We also integrate the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) and situational action theory to invoke the sociotechnical perspective in theorizing collective trolling in virtual communities. The objective of this study is to use the sociotechnical perspective to understand the we-intention to participate in collective trolling in virtual communities. We test our proposed model using data gathered from 377 Reddit users. Our moderated mediation analysis elaborates how technical elements (i.e., anonymity of self and anonymity of others) influence the we-intention to participate in collective trolling via individual-based social elements (i.e., perceived online disinhibition and social identity), with an environment-based social element (i.e., the absence of capable guardianship) as a boundary condition. We contribute to research by explaining collective trolling in virtual communities from the group-referent intentional action perspective and sociotechnical perspective. We also offer practical insights into ways to combat collective trolling in virtual communities.

Obsessive online social gaming has become a worldwide societal challenge that deserves more scholarly investigation. However, this issue has not received much attention in the information systems (IS) research community. Guided by dual-system theory, we theoretically derive a typology of obsessive technology use and contextually adapt it to conceptualize obsessive online social gaming. We also build upon identity theory to develop a dual-identity perspective (i.e., IT identity and social identity) of obsessive online social gaming. We test our research model using a longitudinal survey of 627 online social game users. Our results demonstrate that the typology of obsessive technology use comprises four interrelated types: impulsive use, compulsive use, excessive use, and addictive use. IT identity positively affects the four obsessive online social gaming archetypes and fully mediates the effect of social identity on obsessive online social gaming. The results also show that IT identity is predicted by embeddedness, self-efficacy, and instant gratification, whereas social identity is determined by group similarity, group familiarity, and intragroup communication. Our study contributes to the IS literature by proposing a typology of obsessive technology use, incorporating identity theory to provide a contextualized explanation of obsessive online social gaming and offering implications for addressing the societal challenge.

Social network sites (SNSs) have drawn extensive attention among scholars and practitioners. In this study, we aim at explaining the continuance of SNSs. Specifically, we propose and empirically test a research model of continuance intention to use SNSs. We also examine the relative impacts of SNS-specific motivation factors and social factors derived from the SNS environment on continuance intention to use SNSs. Building upon expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT), our research model was empirically tested with 204 Facebook users through an online survey. While prior studies focus mostly on the SNS-specific motivations, our results demonstrated that social factors derived from the SNS environment play a dominant role in explaining the continuance intention to use SNSs. In particular, this study suggested that perceived critical mass, social presence, and social norms are influential and major factors that determine continuance intention. We believe that this study provides significant contributions to both researchers and practitioners in the context of SNSs.

Conscious and automatic information processing modes represent two approaches to deal with IS continuance. Existing IS studies mostly viewed them as two independent systems and examined IS continuance through either a cognitive deliberating process or an automatic process. In this study, we attempt to clarify the complex nature of IS continuance by examining various interactions between the two information processes. Particularly, we argued that habit activates the heuristic information processing mode and facilitates consumers’ decision making through interacting with key elements of the rational decision process. We conducted a longitudinal study to empirically test the research model with 385 consumers of an e-commerce website. The results show that the two information processing modes work in parallel to explain consumers’ continuance decision. Satisfaction, perceived enjoyment, and alternative attractiveness have significant direct effects on continuance intention. Furthermore, habit exhibits a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between alternative attractiveness and continuance intention. We believe that this study provides new insights to both IS research and practice.