Chatalas Shrugged

Flavián, C., and Guinalíu, M. (2005). The influence of virtual communities on distribution strategies in the internet. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 33(6/7), 405-425. ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 877316031).

techcommunity.ppt

Businesses are accustomed to employing the Internet in their endeavors, and it has been an effective tool for reaching large numbers of consumers. But the use of online communities is proving to be an excellent method for building brand loyalty.

The Influence of Virtual Communities on Distribution Strategies in the Internet, by Flavian and Giunaliu, details this important trend, and provides case studies of five companies that are successfully utilizing virtual communities.

The article gives background of brand communities as part of business strategy. Its primary components include:

• Consciousness of Kind – connecting individuals to a brand, often in comparison to competing products.
• Ritual and Tradition – the transmission of community meaning, relating with history of the brand.
• Sense of Moral Responsibility – Commitment which hels integrate and retain members, ensuring the community’s longevity.

These sound practices are taken exponentially larger via technology and online community. The Internet is known for helping connect people; virtual communities take it farther by creating dedication to a product. The case studies of Guiness, Apple, Manchester United, Amazon and I-Village confirm the rationale of investing in virtual communities. Some of the benefits of these communities include…

• Enhanced relationships and trust
• Sharing of information
• Ease of sale and distribution of products
• Ad revenue

Adamic, L. A. and Glance, N. 2005. The political blogosphere and the 2004 U.S. election: divided they blog. In Proceedings of the 3rd international Workshop on Link Discovery (Chicago, Illinois, August 21 – 25, 2005). LinkKDD ‘05. ACM, New York, NY, 36-43. ISBN:1-59593-215-1.

Adamic and Glance examine the effect that political blogs had on the 2004 US presidential election. The study analyzes some trends of liberal and conservative blogs during the two months prior to the election, mostly focused on the use of linking by the blogs, which demonstrates how the left and right communities attempts to further their agenda. In 2004, 63 million people turned to the internet to get political information, and nine percent of those read political blogs frequently. This paper looked at the linking patterns of the liberal and conservative blogs, including to other blogs, news sources, news stories and newsmaker names.

The political blogosphere is a community, with common interests, objectives and characteristics. The Daily Kos blog epitomizes community, including a consciousness of progressive policies, comparisons to the competition (conservatives), and trust in those who engage as writers and contributors. Political blog communities are entirely similar to brand/virtual communities, using technology to further engage and activate its members.

The results of the study take this biased community-think a bit further. There’s a lack of overlap in the patterns of linking by liberal and conservative blogs – both sides link to those blogs that support their views. It would appear that these groups are only choosing to be exposed to information that agrees with already established viewpoints. While the study shows that conservative sites cross-cite more than liberal blogs, it still tends to be to sites that reinforce their point.

The study continues to support the themes of self-interest within the blog communities. For news, conservatives linked to republican stalwarts like the NY Post, Washington Times and the Wall Street Journal editorial page. Liberals linked regularly to the LA Times, New Republic, and Wall Street Journal’s news pages.

So how did the blog communities affect the 2004 election? It appears the conservative blogs probably had the bigger impact. Howard Dean’s nascent bid was energized by the lefty blogs and their admiration of a campaign that transcended hierarchy and gave power to the people; word of mouth and fundraising via the internet made him the frontrunner before the eventual implosion. On the other side, were the two issues the righties hit upon which likely gave Bush the slight edge… the attacks on Kerry’s military service and the controversy surrounding Dan Rather’s report on GW Bush’s lack of thereof. Those two non-stories overshadowed the larger issues of the campaign.

UPDATE

Reflections on presentation…

It went really well. My main challenge was smoothly articulating similarities between the article about brand/virtual communities to my article about the political blogosphere. However, when I explained it, it seemed to make sense to those visiting my station. The conversations and questions were good. Overall, this was a worthwhile project.