Determinants of success in open source software networks
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570910948650 |
| Published date | 24 April 2009 |
| Date | 24 April 2009 |
| Pages | 532-549 |
| Author | Luis V. Casaló,Jesús Cisneros,Carlos Flavián,Miguel Guinalíu |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Determinants of success in open
source software networks
Luis V. Casalo
´, Jesu
´s Cisneros, Carlos Flavia
´n and Miguel Guinalı
´u
Department of Business Studies, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Abstract
Purpose – Open source software (OSS) products have rapidly acquired a notable importance in the
last years among consumers and firms all over the world. They are mostly developed and distributed
through online social networks thanks to the voluntary and collaborative actions of their members.
However, their innovation and development has to face up the existence of free-riders which can
benefit from the knowledge developed in the online social network. This paper aims to understand the
factors that moderate the opportunistic behaviour in OSS development and distribution, which will
help to correctly manage the OSS innovations.
Design/methodology/appro ach – The influence of reputation on members’ satisfaction and
participation intentions in OSS online social networks are measured. Additionally, the impact of being
an activeand satisfied memberon his/her commitmentand intention to use theOSS products are studied.
After the validation of measurement scales the hypotheses are contrasted with structural modelling.
Findings – This research show that perceived reputation acts as a deterrent factor of free-riders.
More specifically, reputation exerts a positive and significant effect on member’s satisfaction with
previous interactions and an indirect effect on participation intentions in the social network through
satisfaction. Besides, these two outcomes of reputation boost the members’ affective commitment to
the OSS and, as a consequence, the intention to use OSS products is also increased.
Practical implications – Reputation and satisfaction are two crucial aspects in explaining the
success of an online social network since they serve to guarantee the interaction among its members.
In addition, participation continuance intentions in an online network may help to increase the levels of
affective commitment and loyalty to the mutual interest of the network (the OSS in this case). This
result may be especially relevant for commercial networks, which are based on the admiration to a
brand, firm or product.
Originality/value – The analysis of online social networks as a development and distribution
channel and the role of reputation in promoting members’ participation (that is, avoiding opportunistic
behaviour) represent a new contribution to the analysis of online social networks. This research field
has acquired a notable popularity in recent years.
Keywords Social networks,Open systems, Internet, User studies,Consumer behaviour
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Nowadays, people hardly ever develop software programs without interacting with
other users (Bagozzi and Dholakia, 2006). In this line, open source software[1] (OSS) is
usually developed and distributed through online social net works thanks to
collaborative efforts and social interactions. To be precise, the justification to the
expansion of these OSS online networks is twofold and based on the advantages
offered by the internet when compared to traditional distribution channels:
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
The authors are grateful for the financial support of the Spanish Ministery of Science and
Technology (SEC2005-4972).
IMDS
109,4
532
Received 16 July 2008
Revised 21 November 2008
Accepted 16 December 2008
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 109 No. 4, 2009
pp. 532-549
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/02635570910948650
(1) These online networks allow the formation of heterogeneous collaborative
teams (in terms of nationality, place of residence, professional experience, etc.)
in order to develop and continuously improve OSS products. Broadly speaking,
the Internet helps to overcome the space and time barriers to interaction
(Andersen, 2005) and therefore, very heterogeneous individuals, that would not
be able to be connected by other means, can work on the development of an OSS
product together.
(2) These networks favour product distribution to a very wide audience at a very
low cost (zero in many cases). Besides, individuals can take part in discussions
in order to inform and support (Mun
˜iz and O’Guinn, 2001) fellow users in the
correct use of the OSS products, and even promote OSS products through
positive comments made on the online network. Indeed , this positive
word-of-mouth (WOM) or consumer advocacy is one of the major factors that
most influence consumer behaviour (Almquist and Roberts, 2000), especially in
the online context (Sen and Lerman, 2007).
However, following Wasko and Faraj (2000), it is difficult to understand why members
help to develop these OSS products in an altruistic manner (through members’
contributions) when they could also benefit from the knowledge and products developed
in the network without spending their time and effort on the community; that is,
free-riding.
In this regard, we may note that reputation is one of the most important intangible
resources to establish and maintain a relationship (Flavia
´net al., 2006). According to
relationship marketing, reputation emerges as a consequence of the reliable and
consistent behaviour of an organization over time, showing concern for other parties in
a relationship, so that the credibility of the organization is enhanced since this past
behaviour is a sign for its future actions (Ganesan, 1994). Besides, the importance of
reputation may be even greater in online relationships due to the greater uncertainty
that is perceived in the Internet (Casalo
´et al., 2007; Harris and Goode, 2004).
Therefore, reputation may be a crucial factor to promote relationships in an online
social network so that it will help to explain why people actively participate in online
networks and cooperate with other members, who are usually physically unknown.
Broadly speaking,in order to achieve a shared objective (e.g.developing an OSS product,
suchas the Internet browser Firefox),people should preferto interact with memberswith a
good reputationin order to avoid possible opportunisticbehaviours.Thus, with the aim of
moving on thistopic, we put forward a behavioural modelthat characterizes the influence
of reputation on member’s satisfaction and participation in an onlinenetwork.
Finally, due to the fact that social networks have been proposed to favour the
development of emotional links to the interest (e.g. a brand, a product, etc.) around
which the network is developed (Koh and Kim, 2004), we also analyze the influence of
participating in an OSS online network on the affective commitment and loyalty
intentions, in terms of future use, to the OSS products.
Taking into account the previous considerations, the paper is structured as follows:
(1) We carry out a review of the relevant literature concerning the variables
included in the study.
(2) We formalize the hypotheses. Then, we explain the process of data collection
and measures validation.
Success in open
source software
networks
533
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