Finding critical success factors for virtual community marketing |
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Authors: | Sang Hoon Kim Kyung Hoon Yang Jae Kyung Kim |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Management Information Systems, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;(2) Department of Information Systems, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1725 State Street, La Crosse, WI 54601, USA;(3) Department of Management, Marketing, and Information Systems, State University of New York College at Oneonta, Oneonta, NY, USA |
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Abstract: | 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. |
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Keywords: | Virtual community Usefulness Trust Commitment Loyalty Intention to purchase Virtual community success |
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