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A validation Study of House of Quality key performance indicators 2.3 Virtual Communities This part of the theoretical review will discuss the subject of virtual communities. The way this section is organized is adopted from the description of virtual communities by De Valck (2005). Section 2.4.1 will discuss the concept of (virtual) communities and provides a definition. Section 2.4.2 will describe different types of virtual communities and section 2.4.3 will discuss the role of virtual communities in marketing, particularly their potential effectiveness in stimulating participation patterns of members (De Valck, 2005). 2.3.1 Concept of virtual communities As a result of the development of the internet, nowadays it is easy for people to get in contact with people from all over the world. The internet makes it possible to form direct interactions with people who are geographically dispersed, have different backgrounds and live in different time-zones. This offers people the possibility to interact with others about a common topic of interest or a common problem. When computer networks link people as well as machines, they become social networks, also called computer supported social networks (CSSN’s) (Wellman et al 1996). A specific type of a CSSN is the virtual community. Traditionally the term community is linked to a geographic place like a neighborhood where people live together (Wellman and Gulia 1999b). Today, a community is no longer limited to the physical place it occupies in society, but is regarded as a set of relationships where people interact socially for mutual benefit (Wellman 1997). The term “virtual” indicates that primary interactions are electronic or enabled by technology (Ridings 2004). This brings us to the main difference between communities in the traditional environment and virtual communities: the common space of a virtual community is the cyberspace. Go & Fenema (2003) emphasize that within the virtual environment social spaces and mind spaces are formed. “People are articulating their mind space by means of information technology, and direct one to one interactions are mediated (“co-presence”)” (Go & Fenema 2003, p 9). The concept of virtual communities finds it origin in the development of the internet and exists for almost a quarter of a century (Reingold 2000, Ridings 2004). One of the first definitions of virtual communities was made by Howard Reingold. He describes virtual communities as “a collective of geographically distributed individuals bound by a common interest exploiting Internet technologies to enable communication” (Reingold 1993). Ridings et al (2002, p 273) define virtual communities as “groups of people with common interests and practices that communicate regularly and for some duration in an organized way over the Internet through a common location or mechanism”. 26
A validation Study of House of Quality key performance indicators When we look to similarities between traditional and virtual communities, three core components are found to be similar (Kozinets 2001, Muniz & O’Guinn 2001 p.418): Consciousness of kind: members of the virtual community feel a strong connection towards each other and see themselves as a group although they have never met. This sets them apart from non-members. Shared rituals and traditions: members of a community act and behave to the norms and values of the community where they belong to. A sense of Moral responsibility: members of a community feel a sense of responsibility to each other and the community itself. As mentioned above, there are similarities between virtual communities and traditional communities. Besides the main difference in the common space in which traditional and virtual communities occur, another important difference is that members participating in virtual communities participate on a voluntary base (De Valck, 2005). The “only” consequence of leaving the virtual community is the end of a membership. Within traditional communities joining and leaving the community is much more difficult because often members grow up in these communities. Hagel and Armstrong (1997) developed the virtual community business model which identifies five defining characteristics of virtual communities: Distinctive focus: within the virtual community people with the same interests come together. A distinctive focus helps (potential) members to understand what resources can be found within the community. Organizers of the community create a specific climate and create a set of norms and values. Members have to act to these norms and values. Ability to integrate content and communication: the virtual community makes it possible to share a lot of different published information. Members not only interact with each other about the credibility of the content, but also with the publishers. This can result in credible, valuable and reliable information which for example can be used in the purchasing process of a product of service. Appreciation of member-generated content: members participate within the community by giving opinions, sharing experiences, discussing products or services. The information and knowledge provided by a certain member can be valuable for the community and its members. These virtual exchanges of a certain member can for example influence certain buying behaviour of other members. Access to competing publishers and vendors: much more as in the traditional environment, the virtual environment offers (potential) online consumers the possibility to compare many publishers 27
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