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A validation Study of House of Quality key performance indicators and suppliers to each other. Within the virtual environment consumers can compare different products, services, quality, prices and locations which will help them to make a more well-defined decision. In this case the virtual community acts as an organizing community to its members. Commercial orientation: some companies create their own communities; commercial communities. Companies provide valuable information about the company or/and her products to the members of the community. This information can lead to more appreciation of the company and her products by the members of the community. This makes the virtual community an attractive tool for companies. When discussing the concept of virtual communities an important aspect is to understand why people join a virtual community. What is their main purpose, why do they actively participate and why do they come back to the community every time? One of the reasons for participating in a virtual community can be either functional, such as information exchange (Wellman 1996) or from a hedonic aspect as the creation and consumption of a positive experience through interaction (Bargozzi and Dholakia, 2002). Interaction is recognized on three levels of communication; two-way non interactive communication; reactive communication and fully interactive communication (Jones, 1997). Within the community information and knowledge can be seen as a valuable currency or as social resource (Hitz and Wellman 1997). Different form traditional communities, useful information and knowledge can be spread within the virtual community through so called “weak-ties” because members are relative strangers to each other. The virtual community can also be considered as an important reference group for its members, mostly in a secondary but sometimes also in a primary way (Constant et al, 1996). Another reason for participating in a virtual community is the social aspect provided by the community. It is stated by Heering (1996) that the freedom to express views and to receive social support are one of the main reasons for individuals to join and participate in a virtual community. Wellman (1997) defines virtual communities as social networks that use computer support as the basis of communication among members instead of face-to-face interaction. Furthermore, virtual communities make it possible to find individuals who are in the same situation and provide emotional support, social support, a sense of belonging and companionship (Wellman et al, 1999a). According to Hagel and Armstrong (1997) following types of needs can be distinguished why people participate in a virtual community: Interest; within the virtual community members come together because of a common interest. Members exchange information and share knowledge about this common interest by sharing resources or giving opinions and advices. Preece (2000) defines the virtual 28
A validation Study of House of Quality key performance indicators community as a group of individuals who cooperate to share resources and satisfy each other’s needs. Relationships; virtual communities offer people with the same interests of/ or problems the possibility to come together within the virtual community. By frequently interacting within the virtual community, strong and personal relationships may be formed. Sociability, or social interaction, is a key ingredient in building social capital in virtual communities. Social capital is fundamental to the sustenance of the community and encourages members to collaborate and cooperate with each other for a common purpose (Preece 2002). Fantasies; members in virtual communities can share different fantasy experiences they have. For example; members can engage in role-playing games w<strong>here</strong> everything seems to be possible. Transaction; in the virtual community members can make economical transactions. For example goods can be sold to other members like at markplaats.nl As a growing interest and influence of virtual communities is assured, Kozinets (1999) emphasizes that “unlikely to replace physical encounters or information from traditional media, online interactions are becoming an important supplement to social and consumption behavior”. 2.3.2 Typology of virtual communities According to De Valck (2005) virtual communities can be used for a wide range of different topics but vary greatly due to (1) their main purpose, (2) the computer-mediated context in which they occur, and (3) their organizational structure. The first type of segmentation, main purpose, is most relevant for this particular research and will be discussed more deeply below followed by a brief discussion of the other two types of segmentation. Segmentation by main purpose As mentioned above, virtual communities are organized around different topics. Also many different typologies to distinguish virtual communities are known. The most well known typology is made by Hagel and Armstrong (1997). They made a distinction of communities based on the purpose for which they are organized: communities of relationships, communities of interest, communities of fantasy and communities of transaction: Communities of relationships; within this type of communities members have something in common or are in the same situation. For example a common illness, being single or having the same job. 29
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