Identity-based commitment is when users want to stay because of the group’s purpose or topic. Whereas interpersonal-commitment is based on commitment because of liking individual members (e.g., friendships, relationships). 

Identity-based commitment is usually stronger than interpersonal-based commitment since social identity is usually more impactful in terms of user commitment vs personal identity. 

Differences between identity-based affective commitment vs interpersonal-based (bonds-based) affective commitment within online communities 

- Members having similar backgrounds or expertise

- Let members pick the subgroups they want to be in instead of placing them in a group

- Highlight members' similar characteristics

- Create names for the subgroups that form in the community (design claim 5 and 6)

- Make community goals/purpose explicit (design claim 8)

Achieving Identity-Based Affective Commitment

- The feeling of being part of the community and helping fulfill its mission

- This type of commitment is more effective at keeping people in the community. This is because the people are committed to the community itself and not so much the individual members.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Committed members of an online community are more likely to provide meaningful content valued by other users. Commitment also serves as an essential foundation for behavior regulation. Different types of commitment (e.g., affective, need-based, and normative) can be cultivated within online communities, and the optimal type to encourage depends on the specific vision and goals of the community.

Encouraging Commitment to Online Communities

Kraut, Robert E., and Paul Resnick. Building successful online communities: Evidence-based social design. MIT Press, 2012.

Building successful online communities: Evidence-based social design (Kraut and Resnick)

Identity-Based Affective Commitment

- Members feel close to the other individual members of the group, as opposed to the community as a whole

- This type of commitment is more susceptible to member turnover


Interpersonal-Based Affective Commitment

This type of commitment is based on the benefits one will receive from being part of a specific community

Need-based Commitment 

- Members feel a need to serve the community “based on feelings of rightness or obligations to the group”

- Members feel a need to be loyal and act on its behalf

Normative-based Commitment

An academic article on online communities through a behavioral economics lens 

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