How to make virtual community more active and cohesive: From brand and perceived protection perspectives

With the increasing popularity of the Internet and mobile Internet, the Virtual Community (VC) is becoming an important medium for person-to-person communication. To realise the potential of the VC, it is necessary to cultivate within it good group cohesion and vitality. Using empirical and experimental research methods, this study explores the effect of users´ trust in the VC Platform (VCP) on group cohesion and vitality and how brand and perceived privacy security can affect users´ trust in the VC. The research results indicate that the brand of the VCP can directly affect users´ trust in the VC, and can also influence it indirectly through users´ perceived privacy protection and perceived security protection. Further, this study also confirms that the performance of the VC (group cohesion and vitality) is significantly affected by users´ trust in the VC. The results of this study can provide theoretical guidance for internet companies to maintain and enhance the value of VCs.