Study On Information Quality Modelling And Perceived Difference Comparison In The Context Of Virtual Community

The issue of information quality is generated in the development of the information society, exacerbated due to the information resources development and utilization in depth, the limited capacity of the absorption and utilization of information resources, as well as the contradictions between the diversity of user demand arid the uncertainty of the distribution and direction of information flow. Web2.0-based virtual community provides a broader platform for the exchange of information. People can supply and seek for information freely in different virtual community based on their interests. Substantial increase in the amount of available information is from users generate content which has changed information seeking behavior. The traditional mode of information communication has undergone tremendous change leading to a variety of information quality problems. The quality characteristics of accuracy, completeness, understandability, authoritative and currency are of widespread concern. Foreign information quality research has formed a research paradigm in terms of theory, the evaluation framework and contextual research. But compared with foreign research, the issue of information quality is rarely studied from the Information Resource Management Science and the information users’perspectives and employing the empirical research. Today, the Internet has had a profound impact on us. The contradictions between the limited information capability and unlimited growth of the information in the context of virtual community need to be addressed effectively by improving information quality. Therefore, using user-oriented method, this study explores the information users’ perceptions of the information quality during information submitted and received in the context of virtual community to put forward the corresponding optimization strategy.The structure of the paper is divided into introduction and six parts of main body.The introduction section mainly introduces the research background and significance, research status at home and abroad, the research objectives, content, ideas, and methods.The first chapter is the theoretical basis of the study. This chapter expounds the concepts of the information quality and virtual community of related research systematically. Based on the Information Communication theory, the characteristics of information communication in the context of virtual community and its impact on the information quality are analyzed.The second chapter analyzes information quality framework and dimensions in the context of virtual community. Determine the dimensions of the information quality and research variables on the basis of existing literature.The third chapter takes a method of exploratory factor analysis is carried out in order to determine the framework of information quality in the context of virtual community. Questionnaire design and a sample of342are used. A method of principal component factor analysis is used to determine the factor structure of information quality in the context of virtual community.The fourth chapter is the construction of an information quality conceptual model in the context of virtual community. On the basis of exploratory factor analysis, combined with literature research and interviews, the hypotheses and conceptual model are developed. Then questionnaire design and a sample of342are used to conducted empirical analysis, including reliability analysis, validity analysis and hypotheses testing.The fifth chapter is perceived difference comparison of information quality in the context of virtual community. Smart PLS2.0software is running to get12latent variable score of information quality in the context of virtual community, information content quality, information utility quality, information media quality, authenticity, expression completeness, currency, suitability, integrity, ease of operation, system performance, security. Then perceived differences of information quality in the context of virtual community are compared from six perspectives of gender, age, level of education, occupation, Internet experience, topic preferences, as well as from the perspective of information providers and information consumers.The sixth chapter is given some suggestions. The main content and conclusion of the dissertation are concluded. The disadvantages are reflected. The future research is prospected.The discussion of the implications for both theory and practice is as follows:(i) Information Communication Theory provides a theoretical implication for solving information quality problem in the context of virtual community. The three key elements as information, information effects and media link to virtual community’s information contents, the perception of information utility and Website system. With the focus group interviews and exploratory factor analysis, this paper identifies three high-order factors of information content quality, information utility quality and information media quality which corresponds to three key elements of Information Communication Theory.(ii) Authenticity and security is the key to the percepection of high-quality information in the context of virtual community. Authenticity is the positive reflection of the information content quality which reflects correct, reliable and authority. Authenticity is the basis to form trust in the context of virtual community. It is found that the information provider paid more attention to the authenticity than information consumer. Security is the positive reflection of the information media quality which reflects the users’personal privacy in the information communication process. It is found that regardless of age, security is given the high degree of attention. Compared with other professions, party and government officials pay more attention to security. People who have a bachelor’s degree are generally higher than other academic levels. Perceived difference is more significant when community members providing/searching medical health information than other types of information,(iii) Managers, desigers and users of community should take appropriate measures to improve information quality together. Managers and designers should ensure that the community site reasonable, clear navigation, links smooth, timely response, easy to operate, and provide a variety of channels of information exchange and a variety of social media features. The users should constantly improve their information literacy and information recognition capability, and safeguard the information environment consciously.This study is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)[grant number71073118].