Why do newcomers participate in virtual communities? An integration of self-determination and relationship management theories

•Newcomers have three essential needs when participating in virtual communities.•The three needs are those for autonomy, relatedness, and competence.•Facilitating the three needs enhances newcomers' cognitive social identity (SI).•Cognitive SI influences newcomers' participation through affective and evaluative SI.•Relationship satisfaction helps convert cognitive SI into affective SI.

This study proposes and tests a model that outlines the antecedents of newcomers' participation behavior in virtual communities and incorporates both mediating and moderating effects. According to self-reported data from two periods and objective behavioral data, the combined fulfillment of needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence determines newcomers' cognitive social identity, which then influences participation behavior through affective commitment and collective self-esteem. Of the three needs, autonomy exerts the strongest effect on cognitive social identity. Moreover, relationship satisfaction moderates the relationship between awareness of group membership and affective commitment, which helps explain why newcomers with high awareness of their group membership might not cohere with a particular social group. Overall , by combining self-determination theory with relationship management theories, this study establishes an explanatory platform for newcomers' participation behavior. The authors conclude with a discussion of the managerial and research implications of these findings.