Bridging the intention-behavior gap in edtech communities: A theory of planned behavior approach to bootcamp alumni participation
Keywords:
Digital Alumni Community, Theory of Planned Behavior, Participation Intention, Actual Community Participation, Intention-Behavior GapAbstract
The sustainability of alumni participation in the educational technology (EdTech) digital community ecosystem is a fundamental challenge due to the low actual engagement compared to the potential number of members. This study aims to analyze the effect of attitude toward participation, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on community participation through the intention to participate among Harisenin.com bootcamp alumni in Indonesia. We define actual community participation through four specific tangible behaviors: event attendance, information seeking, knowledge sharing, and member interaction. Using a causal explanatory design, survey data from 368 active Slack members were analyzed via Path Analysis and the Sobel Test. The results demonstrate that the Theory of Planned Behavior constructs, mediated by intention, jointly explain 67.1% of the variance in actual community participation (R2=0.671). Notably, intention acts as a partial mediator between psychological drivers (attitude, subjective norms, perceived control) and actual behavior. The findings empirically confirm the intention-behavior gap phenomenon: strong intentional drive must be supported by high perceived behavioral control (infrastructure convenience and minimal technical barriers) to translate into actual participation. EdTech community managers must align strategies for communicating professional benefits with the reduction of operational participation costs to ensure the long-term sustainability of member engagement.
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