Understanding the Sense of Virtual Community Roles in Micro-Businesses Social Commerce Value Co-Creation Process

The value co-creation research has been inclined toward the big corporation. This paper intends to fill the gap by exploring the role of a sense of virtual community in the co-creation process. The method for data gathering used for this research includes content analysis and semi-structured interviews. We interviewed sellers and customers from a social commerce community. The findings show that both sellers and customers actively participated in co-creation activities due to their engagement in this community. Furthermore, their engagement with the co-creation activities is also influenced by their strong sense of virtual community, leading to strong social support. This study is expected to be significant for social commerce research and those who venture into this marketplace. It can give some ideas to the business on how to engage their potential customers to create and co-create value through online community participation.