New members' integration: Key factor of success in online travel communities

Helping new members acculturate into online communities is crucial to developing successful and sustainable communities, but the process remains unexplored. To address this topic, this paper analyses,antecedents and consequences of member's integration into online travel communities. Results show perceived similarity and reciprocity affect integration. Both integration and satisfaction with the community influence community participation. Finally, perceived reciprocity positively affects both satisfaction and intention to participate in the community. These findings suggest interesting implications for online travel community management. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.