The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies (한국전자거래학회지)

Society for e-Business Studies (한국전자거래학회)
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The Effect of Anonymity on Virtual Team Performance in Online Communities

온라인 커뮤니티 내 익명성이 가상 팀 성과에 미치는 영향

  • Lee, Un-Kon (College of Economics and Business Administration, The University of Suwon) ;
  • Lee, Aeri (Department of Management Information Systems, Yuhan University) ;
  • Kim, Kyong Kyu (Graduate School of Information, Yonsei University)
  • Received : 2015.02.02
  • Accepted : 2015.02.20
  • Published : 2015.02.28
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Abstract

One of the challenges in online community management is what level of perceived anonymity can be granted to encourage active participation from members while discouraging unhealthy activities. Few studies developed a scheme of anonymity and investigated how different levels of anonymity influence community activities. This study develops a classification scheme of anonymity encompassing the following three different levels : (1) real name(no anonymity), (2) nickname (partial anonymity), and (3) random assignment of a temporal ID (complete anonymity). Then, it examines how different levels of anonymity influence trust and perceived risk, which in turn affect virtual team performance. A series of laboratory experiments were performed, manipulating the levels of anonymity, in the context of well-structured communities that allow prior interactions among community members. The data was collected from 364 laboratory participants and analyzed using ANOVA and PLS. The results indicate that the difference of anonymity between (2) and (3) had not be significant and the only (1) could not guarantee the anonymity. The impact of anonymity on trust and perceived risk could not be significant in this situation. These findings could contribute to make more beneficial member identification strategies in online community practice.

온라인 커뮤니티 구성원들의 참여를 독려하고 비행을 막기 위해 어느 수준의 익명성을 보장하여야 하는지에 대한 연구가 시급하다. 그러나, 선행연구들은 익명성의 개념이나 구분에 대한 체계적인 연구를 진행하지 못하였을 뿐만 아니라, 온라인 커뮤니티의 가상 팀 활동에 익명성이 어떠한 영향을 미칠 수 있는지에 대한 연구가 부족하였다. 본 연구에서는 익명성의 개념 및 효과에 대한 선행연구를 종합하고, 익명성을 1) 실명(무익명), 2) 별명(부분 익명), 3) 임의의 숫자 아이디를 임시로 부여(완전 익명)의 세 가지 수준으로 구분하였다. 이러한 익명성의 차이가 온라인 커뮤니티 구성원들의 신뢰 및 인지된 신원 노출 위험에 영향을 미침으로써, 결과적으로 가상 팀 성과에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 실증적으로 검증하였다. 실험실 실험이 수행되었으며, 온라인 커뮤니티의 실제 모습을 반영하기 위해 정착된 커뮤니티의 가상 팀 상황을 만들어 자료를 수집하였다. 총 364개의 응답이 수집된 가운데, ANOVA와 PLS를 활용하여 자료를 분석하였다. 연구 결과, 실명과 별명을 부여한 익명성 집단간 차이는 유의하지 않았으며, 임의의 아이디를 임시로 부여하였던 집단만이 인지된 익명성에 유의한 차이를 보였다. 동시에 익명성의 효과는 정착된 커뮤니티의 가상 팀 상황에서는 신뢰, 인지된 위험에 유의한 영향을 미치지 못하는 것으로 조사되었다. 이러한 연구 결과는 온라인 커뮤니티 실무에서 보다 전략적인 커뮤니티 구성원의 익명성 보호 전략을 수립하는데 도움을 줄 수 있을 것으로 판단한다.

Keywords

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