Virtual communities: A marketing perspective

Kristine de Valck (), Gerrit van Bruggen and Berendt Wierenga
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Kristine de Valck: GREGH - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC - HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Increasingly, consumers interact through the Internet to share their knowledge, experiences, and opinions. Consequently, 'word-of-mouse' has become a significant market force that influences consumer decision-making. On the basis of extensive quantitative and qualitative research, the authors sketch how consumers make use of virtual communities as social and information networks, and how this affects their decision-making processes. We present three studies that address (i) determinants and effects of virtual community influence on the consumer decision process; (ii) virtual community participation patterns; and (iii) discussion practices of the most active community members. Key implications for managers, marketers, and market researchers are discussed.

Keywords: Consumer decision process; Interpersonal influence; Marketing; Netnography; Virtual communities of consumption; Virtual community members; Virtual community participation; Word-of-mouth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-06
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (53)

Published in Decision Support Systems, 2009, Vol.47, n°3, pp.185-203. ⟨10.1016/j.dss.2009.02.008⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00458421

DOI: 10.1016/j.dss.2009.02.008

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