 Managing information sharing in online communities and marketplacesEdward Boon, Leyland Pitt and Esmail Salehi-Sangari Business Horizons, 2015, vol. 58, issue 3, 347-353 Abstract: Companies can engage with many online social networks and communities to attract customers, disseminate product information, conduct research, and stimulate innovation. However, for these activities to be successful, it is key that consumers at these platforms trust each other and are willing to share their knowledge freely. The study presented in this article assesses what companies can do to encourage members of online communities and marketplaces to share information with others. For this purpose, a netnographic study was conducted of Etsy.com, an online marketplace for handcrafted and vintage products. The study revealed several key findings: companies can stimulate information sharing through activities that build trust and develop a norm of reciprocity; rules and guidelines are helpful to discourage abuse, but do little to stimulate sharing; and companies should give the right example by sharing knowledge themselves. The guidelines that were developed based on these findings can be used by companies that own or manage an online community as well as by those who intend to engage with one. Keywords: Online communities; Information sharing; Game theory; Etsy.com (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:bushor:v:58:y:2015:i:3:p:347-353 DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2015.01.008 Access Statistics for this article Business Horizons is currently edited by C. M. Dalton More articles in Business Horizons from Elsevier |
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