Understanding continuous sharing behavior of online travel community users: a case of TripAdvisor

Given the rapid development of the internet, the prospects for the online travel industry are promising, and online travel communities (OTCs) have become an invaluable platform for people exchanging travel information and making related decisions. However, the mobility and continuous sharing behavior of online travel community users has become a major source of uncertainty in platform management. To establish ways of regulating online communities and promoting innovation and development, this article builds on the knowledge and definitions of relevant concepts that we find in the research literature. Taking the online travel community as its research object and the TripAdvisor website as an example, based on social cognition theory and social exchange theory, this study identifies four community factors that influence the continuous sharing behaviors of users in online travel communities. The results show that richness of self-presentation, community identity, community support and community observation learning all have positive effect on the continuous sharing behavior of online travel community users. On this basis, the article offers comments and suggestions on the sustainable development of online travel agency enterprises.