Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Finding critical success factors for virtual community marketing

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Service Business Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson E, Weitz B (1992) The use of pledges to build and sustain commitment in distribution channels. J Mark Res 29(1):18–34. doi:10.2307/3172490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell C, Howard N (1972) Community studies: an introduction to the sociology of the local community. Praeger Publishers, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry LL (1983) Relationship marketing. In: Berry LL, Shostack L, Upah L (eds) Perspectives on service marketing. American Marketing Association, Chicago, pp 25–28

  • Bhattacherjee A (2001) Understanding information systems continuance: an expectation-confirmation model. MIS Q 25(3):351–370. doi:10.2307/3250921

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bitner MJ (1990) Evaluating service encounters: the effects of physical surroundings and employee responses. J Mark 54(2):69–82. doi:10.2307/1251871

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard A, Markus L (2004) The experienced sense of a virtual community: characteristics and processes. Database Adv Info Sys 35(1):65–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Chipuer HM, Pretty GMH (1999) A review of the sense of community index: current uses, factor structure, reliability, and further development. J Community Psychol 27(6):643–658 doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6629(199911)27:6<643::AID-JCOP2>3.0.CO;2-B

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chow S, Holden R (1997) Toward an understanding of loyalty: the moderating role of trust. J Manag Iss 9(3):275–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi M (1975) Play and intrinsic rewards. J Hum Psychol 15(3):41–63. doi:10.1177/002216787501500306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cyr D, Hassanein K, Head M, Ivanov A (2007) The role of social presence in establishing loyalty in e-service environments. Interact Comput 19(1):43–56. doi:10.1016/j.intcom.2006.07.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis FD (1989) Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Q 13(3):43–56. doi:10.2307/249008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donovan RJ, Rossiter JR, Marcoolyn G, Nesdale A (1994) Store atmosphere and purchasing behavior. J Retail 70(3):283–294. doi:10.1016/0022-4359(94)90037-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Figallo C (1998) Internet world: hosting web communities. John Wiley and Sons, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier S, Yao JL (1997) Reviving brand loyalty: a reconceptualization within the framework of consumer-brand relationship. Int J Res Mark 14(5):451–472. doi:10.1016/S0167-8116(97)00021-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freilich M (1963) Toward an operational definition of community. Rural Soc 28:117–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganesan S (1994) Determinants of long-term orientation in buyer-seller relationships. J Mark 58(2):1–19. doi:10.2307/1252265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garbarino E, Johnson MS (1999) The different roles of satisfaction, trust, and commitment in customer relationships. J Mark 63(2):70–87. doi:10.2307/1251946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gefen D, Karahanna E, Straub DW (2003) Trust and TAM in online shopping: an integrated model. MIS Q 27(1):51–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Geyskens I, Steenkamp JBEM, Kumar N (1999) A meta-analysis of satisfaction in marketing channel relationships. J Mark Res 36(2):223–238. doi:10.2307/3152095

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghani JA, Roberta S, Pamela R (1991) The experience of flow in computer-mediated and in face-to-face groups In: DeGross JL, Benbasat I, DeSanctis G, Beath CM (eds). Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Information Systems, New York, pp 16–18

  • Hagel J, Armstrong A (1997) Net gain: expanding markets through virtual communities. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho J (1997) Evaluating the World Wide Web: a global study of commercial sites. http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol3/issue1/ho.html

  • Hoffman DL, Novak TP (1996) Marketing in hypermedia computer-mediated environments: conceptual foundations. J Mark 60(3):50–68. doi:10.2307/1251841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman DL, Novak TP (1997) Measuring the flow experience among web users. http://ecommerce.vanderbilt.edu/papers.html

  • Jones Q (1997) Virtual communities, virtual settlements & cyber archaeology: a theoretical outline. J Comput Mediat Commun 3(3):24

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaye BK (1998) Uses and gratifications of the World Wide Web: from couch potato to web potato. NJ J Comm 6(1):21–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly S, Davis MA (1994) Antecedents to customer expectations for service recovery. J Acad Mark Sci 22(1):52–61. doi:10.1177/0092070394221005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim AJ (2000) Community building on the web. Peachpit Press, Berkeley, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotler P, Armstrong G (1989) Marketing: an introduction. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee SM (2003) From the land of morning calm to ICT hot bed. Acad Manag Exec 17(20):7–18

    Google Scholar 

  • McAllister DJ (1995) Affect-based and cognition-based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations. Acad Manage J 38(1):24–59. doi:10.2307/256727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKnight DH, Chervany NL (2002) What trust means in e-commerce customer relationships. Int J Elec Commer Bus Media 6(2):35–59

    Google Scholar 

  • McMillian DW, Chavis DM (1986) Sense of community: a definition and theory. J Community Psychol 14(1):6–23 doi: 10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1<6::AID-JCOP2290140103>3.0.CO;2-I

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moorman C, Zaltman G, Deshpande R (1992) Relationships between providers and users of market-research: the dynamics of trust within and between organizations. J Mark Res 29(3):314–328. doi:10.2307/3172742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moorman C, Deshpande R, Zaltman G (1993) Factors affecting trust in market-research relationships. J Mark 57(1):81–101. doi:10.2307/1252059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan RM, Hunt SD (1994) The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. J Mark 58(3):20–38. doi:10.2307/1252308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunally JC (1978) Psychometric theory. McGraw Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver RL (1999) Whence consumer loyalty? J Mark 63:33–44. doi:10.2307/1252099

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichheld FF, Schefter P (2000) E-loyalty: your secret weapon on the web. Harv Bus Rev 78(4):105–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevino LK, Webster J (1992) Flow in computer-mediated communication: electronic mail and voice mail evaluation and impacts. Comm Res 19(5):539–573. doi:10.1177/009365092019005001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulrich D (1989) Tie the corporate knot: gaining complete customer commitment. Sloan Manage Rev 30(4):19–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster J, Trevino LK, Ryan L (1993) The dimensionality and correlates of flow in human-computer interactions. Comput Human Behav 9(4):411–426. doi:10.1016/0747-5632(93)90032-N

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman B, Salaff J, Dimitrova D, Garton L, Gulia M, Haythornthwaite C (1996) Computer networks as social networks: collaborative work, telework, and virtual community. Ann Rev Soc 22:213–238. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.213

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management Information Systems, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Sang Hoon Kim

  2. Department of Information Systems, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1725 State Street, La Crosse, WI, 54601, USA

    Kyung Hoon Yang

  3. Department of Management, Marketing, and Information Systems, State University of New York College at Oneonta, Oneonta, NY, USA

    Jae Kyung Kim

Authors
  1. Sang Hoon Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kyung Hoon Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jae Kyung Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kyung Hoon Yang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, S.H., Yang, K.H. & Kim, J.K. Finding critical success factors for virtual community marketing. Serv Bus 3, 149–171 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-008-0059-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-008-0059-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation