Finding critical success factors for virtual community marketing

Previous studies have identified critical success factors related to using virtual communities as a marketing channel. These studies have followed two research trends that connect the virtual community to actual purchasing. One is finding relationships between the operational elements of a virtual community and members’ intent to purchase and the other is finding relationships between characteristics of virtual community members and their intent to purchase. The model for this study reflects both trends. In addition, the model reflects research related to factors of customer satisfaction and the measurement of marketing success in terms of sense of community and loyalty. Conclusions from this research have been verified empirically with survey data collected from 292 virtual community members representing nine profit-oriented virtual communities. This study confirms that operational elements of a virtual community and characteristics of virtual community members affect the success of virtual community marketing. It is also confirmed that perceptions of usefulness, trust, and commitment toward the virtual community are important intervening effects. However, not all factors studied in the model were found to be significant in relationship to successful virtual community marketing. The analysis of the results from this study should be helpful to practitioners who use virtual communities as a marketing channel.     

Net gain: Expanding markets through virtual communities

What are virtual communities? How do they operate? How can they help expand markets, increase visibility, and improve profitability? What effects have they had on business models and marketing strategies? John Hagel discussed these issues in his keynote speech at the Direct Marketing Association's 1998 net.marketing Conference held April 1998.     

Strategies for building effective virtual teams: Trust is key

The impressive growth in web-mediated organizational relationships has created an escalating interest in how to manage virtual teams successfully. As organizations increasingly expect their managers to lead employees in these online groupings, it becomes imperative to identify and train them in the skills to do this effectively. The purpose of this article is to organize and present strategies that organizations have found successful in helping their managers lead virtual teams. While all successful managers must ensure that they have provided the basic organizational support for their employees, especially effective leaders also ensure they build trustworthy relationships. Thus, we emphasize how each strategy contributes to building and sustaining a climate of trust in virtual teams.     

中国企业渠道联盟关系影响因素研究

Channel alliance is regarded as the most advanced form of channel relationships. The extant literature mainly focuses on commitment, trust, communication and cooperation as influencing factors of channel alliance relationship. This paper empirically explores influencing factors of channel alliance relationship in Chinese enterprises, and their respective degrees of influence, particularly those of personal relationship and government administrative factors. Research hypotheses were tasted based on a survey of automobile vendors and dealers. Three most important influencing factors were identified “commitment and trust”, “communication and cooperation”, and “returns”. __________ Translated from Nankai Guanli Pinglun 南开管理评论 (Nankai Business Review), 2006, 6(1): 42–48     

Mitigating transaction risk for cross-border e-commerce firms: A multiagent-based simulation study

The industry of cross-border electronic commerce (CBEC) has experienced rapid development in recent years, however it has also faced severe challenges concerning the managerial risks taking place across national borders. The aims of the study are two folds: first examine the effects of applying different risk mitigation strategies on the market performance of international online vendors (IOVs) and utilities of consumers; second explore whether consumers’ choices among vendors from different nations based on psychic distance are affected by the risk mitigation strategies of platforms or by the actual frequency of vendors making default moves. A dynamic simulation has been conducted based on four combinations of platform strategies determined by two dimensions of ex ante intervention and ex post investigation. The results indicate that (i) once increasing the frequency of ex post investigation of risk events, customers will suffer less default losses, and both IOVs and customers will gain more utilities; (ii) the profits of ordinary vendors will increase marginally when reducing the frequency of ex ante intervention of high-risk orders, causing a lower degree of shopping concentration; (iii) when platforms adopt risk mitigation strategies of more frequent intervention or higher investigation intensity toward IOVs, the psychic distances of consumers towards IOVs from the same nation and from relatively closer nations become closer.     

Branding co-creation with members of online brand communities

This article looks at the co-creation of value in the branding process with members of online communities. Three online communities in Iran are analyzed through 45 interviews with members along with three interviews with top managers of the three brands of these communities. A content analysis shows a clear process in that the social interactions of customers in online brand communities with their favorite brands help develop relationship quality and increase customer brand loyalty. The findings suggest that firms may develop their branding strategies using social media and online brand communities through relationship marketing by using an online co-creation strategy. The findings also serve to inform practitioners of the impact of social media on branding and how they can best facilitate these brand relationships.     

Influence of virtual communities in purchasing decisions: The participants' perspective

This study intended to fill some gaps in knowledge about virtual communities and their influence on consumers' purchasing decisions. A Brazilian Orkut community, whose central theme is preparing for wedding ceremonies, was investigated to reveal relationships among members and group influences on purchasing decisions. Twenty-one interviews were conducted by telephone. Results unveil a basic code of conduct, suggesting that the community can also act as a normative reference group, with strong identification among participants. Although the central interest – the wedding ceremony and party – could be considered as episodic, many members actively stay in the community after being married, just to help others. Group leaders seemed to be active participants, those with more experience with products related to the group's interests, or those perceived as having refined tastes. There was evidence that purchasing intentions and behavior can be altered as a result of interactions among members.     

Understanding consumer-to-consumer interactions in virtual communities: The salience of reciprocity

Virtual communities (VCs) represent popular social environments in which people interact by exchanging resources such as information, ideas, and advice about their common interests. Existing research lacks an explication of why people help others in VCs and how such voluntary behaviors drive subsequent attitudes (VC commitment) and behavioral intentions (online co-shopping). This article adopts resource exchange theory to examine how two routes of interactivity (structural vs. experiential) influence reciprocity and affect commitment and co-shopping. Using a netnography study and an online survey, the authors confirm the significant effects of structural and experiential routes of interactivity on reciprocity. Reciprocity has critical effects on social system maintenance by enhancing commitment to the community and intention to co-shop. The results also identify partially mediated relationships among various variables, which suggest that the effects of the experiential route on VC commitment and co-shopping operate partly through reciprocity.     

江苏生产性服务业集聚的影响因素研究

本文计算了2003年-2010年江苏地区生产性服务业的区位商值,构建了生产性服务业集聚影响因素的指标体系,并运用stata 11.0软件对生产性服务业集聚的影响因素进行了面板数据的实证分析。研究表明,经济增长、第三产业结构、人力资源以及交通基础设施这几个因素对生产性服务业的集聚有明显推动效应,政府规模对生产性服务业集聚有明显的"挤出"效应,而固定资产投资总额、工业产值、城市规模、通讯技术等指标对江苏生产性服务业集聚没有明显影响。     

Transforming visitors into members in online brand communities: Evidence from China

Using observational learning theory, this study investigates how simply viewing posts can affect visitors' intentions to join an online brand community. The study finds that the viewing of posts leads to informational value and perceived social value, which in turn increases visitors' intentions to participate in the community. For visitors with brand ownership, both informational value and perceived social value play full mediating roles; for visitors without brand ownership, both values play partial mediating roles. In addition, for visitors with brand ownership, informational value is just as important as perceived social value in shaping their participation intentions; for those without brand ownership, perceived social value is more important than informational value. The findings enrich the brand community literature and provide implications for brand community development.     

Tips in business transaction: A moral issue

Has one the right to expect favor because he or she has given tip? Or is one obligated to bend the rule of law in favor of his friend from whom he has received tip or favor? The paper undertakes an analysis of the different tip situations, the different forms of tip and attempts to show in what sense the term tip is applicable and finally examines the usefulness of tip and its possible effect on a moral conscience. The paper argues that tip considered as a transaction wherein money or favor is offered for the purpose of gaining an advantage illegally is nothing but bribery and as such immoral. Tip as a “forced gratuity” is argued to be an organized exploitation. The paper then concludes that tip in its proper sense of voluntary and gratuitous transaction can maximize individual utility and enhance social solidarity, noting at the same time, that its possible adverse effect on the moral conscience is worth taking cognizance of.     

Consumer participation in virtual communities: The role of personal values and personality

The important role that consumers play in virtual communities as active participants in the value co-creation process has been increasingly acknowledged in recent marketing thought and practice. This study applies and extends the well-established value–attitude–behaviour (VAB) model to investigate how personal values and personality jointly influence consumers' attitude and behaviour towards their participation in virtual communities. The results show that while the resultant conservation value dimension has an indirect influence on consumer participation behaviour in virtual communities through attitude, the extraversion trait has a direct effect. The findings clarify our understanding of how personal values and personality differently predict consumer participation in virtual communities, and confirm the role of personal values and the VAB model in explaining this phenomenon. This study suggests significant implications for virtual community marketing.     

An empirical study of the impact of consumer emotional engagement and affective commitment in firm-hosted virtual communities

ABSTRACT

Emergent perspectives in marketing highlight new opportunities for leveraging social media as a means to build customer–firm relationships through consumer engagement. Drawing from cognitive appraisal theory and aspects of the service dominant logic, this study delineates and empirically tests hypotheses regarding the effects of key components of consumer engagement (cognitive appraisal, affective states, participation) on consumers’ affective commitment, in the context of two service companies where the firms used social media to host virtual communities. The research examines how consumers’ cognitive appraisal of the engagement experience aligned with their online interaction propensity and participation in value-creating activities drive engagement outcomes. The results confirm the need to contextualise, personalise and respond to the consumer’s engagement experience to develop this engagement.     

Factors influencing purchase intent in virtual worlds: a review of the literature

Previous empirical studies have identified several factors that seem to play a role in determining purchase intent in virtual worlds; three-dimensional online environments in which users interact while represented by their avatars. So far however, a clear overview of these factors is lacking, and the question that remains is what factors affect purchase intent most. Therefore, this study aims to create an overview of factors that influence users’ purchase intent in virtual worlds, and to subsequently identify the most influential factors. To conduct this review, relevant literature was gathered using a variety of search engines and keywords. An article had to explicitly study factors influencing purchase intent in virtual worlds in order to be included in this review. This search method resulted in a selection of twelve relevant articles that were used for further analysis. Results show that perceived enjoyment, social influence, customization and ease of use are important factors that influence purchase intent in virtual worlds. Enjoyment of the virtual world, beliefs and attitudes of others, avatar customization, and easy-to-use virtual world applications can thus increase users’ willingness to purchase products in the virtual world. Practical implications as well as limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Measurement of factors influencing online shopper buying decisions: A scale development and validation

The paper attempts to develop an ‘Online Susceptibility Scale’ (OSS) by focusing on the factors that influence shopper buying decisions in an online environment as they are not adequately addressed in the literature. The proposed scale supports the understanding of the impact of online information which leads to consumer decisions. The study involves qualitative and quantitative studies to develop the scale. Eleven items are identified for the scale development which were borrowed from literature and modified through focus group discussions. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) resulted in three factor groups: Evidential online influence (five items), Confirmational online influence (three items), and Experiential online influence (three items). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) has validated the factor structure. Results indicate that the three factors explaining online information sources have a significant impact during buyer purchase decision-making. The study relates ‘Online Susceptibility Scale’ (OSS) to online retailers for exploring the online shopping influences, thereby managing their campaigns accordingly. Managerial and theoretical implications of this new scale are discussed.     

A transaction level study of the effects of central bank intervention on exchange rates

We study the effects of sterilised intervention operations executed on behalf of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) using tick-by-tick transactions data between 1986 and 1995. We extend the preliminary analysis of [Economic Journal 109 (1999) 662] by matching these data with indicative intra-day exchange rate quotes and news-wire reports of central bank activity. Using an event study approach we find that intervention has important short-run effects on exchange rate returns. In particular, among various results, we find that i) intervention has a stronger impact when the SNB moves with-the-market and when its activity is concerted with that of other central banks and ii) exchange rate returns move in the 15 min interval prior to interventions.     

虚拟社区消费生活形态量表及特征研究

文章从两个BBS社区抽取610个研究样本,通过构建虚拟社区生活形态量表来考察虚拟社区的网上消费生活形态特征。实证研究发现BBs社区成员由三类群体构成：消费咨询导向型、混合型和社交活跃导向型。尽管这三类消费群的虚拟社区生活形态迥然不同,但男性和女性在虚拟社区中的消费生活形态并没有显著差异,不同年龄的成员消费生活形态也没有显著差异。根据研究结果,文章最后为企业的网络营销管理实践工作提供了若干建议。     

Crime,community social capital and entrepreneurship: Evidence from Australian communities

Crime is an anti-social blight on communities that increases the cost of doing business, including for entrepreneurs. Drawing on Australian longitudinal data, this study examines the links between crime rates and the propensity for entrepreneurship within communities. We do so by matching propensity for entrepreneurship with types of crime found at the community level where crime occurs. We find that higher total crime rates, crimes against the person and property crime, significantly lower the propensity for entrepreneurship in communities. We also show that the core facets of community social capital – trust, membership in voluntary organizations and support and cooperation – mediate this relationship.Executive summaryWe comprehensively examine whether higher community crime rates – crime on people and crime on property – cause lower rates of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship research extensively examines how gaining social capital, defined as the social resources one gains within one's community, promotes entrepreneurship. This study considers whether a pervasive community dynamic in crime impedes entrepreneurship. Specifically, we show that the two main kinds of crime – people and property – inhibit entrepreneurship.We show the facets of community social capital that mediate the relationship between crime and entrepreneurship. We inform the role of community-based social capital in promoting entrepreneurship (Kwon et al., 2013) by considering how higher crime lowers social capital and in turn entrepreneurship. We show that core facets of relational social capital – trust, voluntary membership in community bodies, support, and cooperation – mediate the relationship between crime and entrepreneurship. Likewise, communities with more robust reserves of social capital are better able to withstand crime and promote entrepreneurship.Examining the link between crime and entrepreneurship allows us to contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship and social capital. We discuss the various ways in which crime diminishes social capital to shape entrepreneurship. In our framework that is predicated on theory on community social capital, crime creates distrust because it causes citizens to be wearier and more suspicious of each other, impeding sharing of ideas and knowledge for ventures. Crime impedes the efficacy and membership of community-based organizations that allow entrepreneurs to network. Crime reduces the support available for founders to start and sustain businesses in focal communities, as individuals seek opportunities and resources outside their communities. Crime diminishes the extent to which people take pride in and identify with their communities, as evidenced by voluntary membership in community organizations. Crime reduces collaboration because it leads to self-protective behaviors, including flight from high-crime communities, that hinder norms of reciprocity. Crime reduces cooperation as criminals are more likely to resort to coercion, as enforced by monitoring and violence, to solve business problems.Findings rely on a comprehensive database of crime rates across Australian postcodes. Crime is typically a localized phenomenon – it affects business outcomes in local communities. We obtain community-level crime rates from each Australian state and territory police force or relevant government agencies and match these data with entrepreneurship rates by postcode. Our primary identification strategy follows Dustmann and Fasani (2016), who estimate the effect of local area crime on mental health in the United Kingdom (UK). This identification strategy removes the effects of residential sorting and correlates crime with time-varying unobserved entrepreneurship determinants if there is no endogenous migration from local crime. The main findings are robust to instrumenting for local area crime to which movers are exposed and for historical abortion rates in the state or territory where the individual lives, as well as a number of other approaches to obtaining causal inference.The article holds considerable practical relevance for policymakers seeking to promote community entrepreneurship. Our study is highly relevant to community leaders and policymakers working to boost local entrepreneurship. Findings strongly suggest that efforts to reduce crime are a primary mechanism to protect social capital within communities and, therefore, entrepreneurship. Policy initiatives dedicated to creating and expanding social ventures would a) boost entrepreneurship and social capital and b) mitigate the detrimental effects of crime on entrepreneurship (Wry and York, 2017).