Chapter I

Introdution
Background
The wy onumer ommunite with eh other hve been
hnging drmtilly over the lt dede, nd the me i true for how
onumer gther nd exhnge informtion bout produt nd how
they obtin nd onume them. The rie of plethor of new medi h
provided

onumer

with

extenive

option

for

tively

providing

informtion on ervie nd produt: The digitl innovtion of the lt

dede mde it effortle, indeed eond nture, for udiene to tlk
bk nd tlk to eh other (Deighton nd Kornfeld 2009, p. 4). New
medi hve lo empowered them to promote nd ditribute their own
offer onumer tody erve retiler on eBy, medi produerdiretor on YouTube, uthor on Wikipedi, nd ritil reviewer on
mzon nd Tripdvior; they do ll of thi nd more on Febook nd
Mype. nd they no longer require their omputer to do o through
high-teh mobile phone, portble omputer nd portl uh Twitter,
reltime informtion exhnge h beome n integrl element of
onumer behvior nywhere nd nytime. Uer-generted ontent h
beome m

phenomenon,

with Febook,

Mype,

YouTube,

Wikipedi, nd Twitter ll being lited mong the Top 15 webite,

ounting for more thn 11 perent of globl internet trffi, of pril

2010 (lex 2010). Thi development threten etblihed buine

model. Printed newpper nd mgzine re fing mjor rii
(Edgeliffe-Johnon 2008), onumer move from print to digitl
medi, nd piry nd digitl hnnel hve everely hurt the mui
indutry (Finnil Time 2009). Medi nlyt hve notied deline of
TV dvertiing effetivene (Mddox 2008), reulting from new digitl
option for viewing TV ontent (e.g., digitl video reorder, online
portl). ritil webite (e.g., untied.om for United irline) nd brnd
poof wthed by million vi YouTube (Elbere 2009) hllenge the
building of brnd.
t the me time, the rie of new medi lo rete extenive
opportunitie for new buine model. In the new medi univere of
uer-generted ontent, brnd till ply pivotl role onumer hre
their enthuim bout their fvorite brnd vi Twitter, YouTube, nd
Febook. ome of them even help other onumer olve produtrelted problem for free, whih redue ervie ot nd inree
qulity (Mthwik, Wiertz, nd De Ruyter 2008). New medi offer
ompnie multifriou wy to reh onumer, ommunite with
them, nd meure their ommunition, browing or purhe-relted
behvior. Thee option re vluble for mrketing in generl, but
hould be of prtiulr relevne for utomer reltionhip mngement,
whih

employ

knowledge

on

individulized mrketing tivitie.

individul

utomer

for

rfting

im nd Jutifition For The Reerh

The ure f thi er w t exlre utomer pereption with
the growing ue of oil medi .T d thi, Quntittive nd Qulittive
rh w dted in exmining the ntent f intertin between
il netwrk relted t the urhe f eifi rdut tegry
targeting the focus group.

Research Questions
The following were the research questions.
1. In what ways do social media affect customer online purchasing
behaviour?
2. How the advent of Social Media affects customer perceptions
towards their favourite brands?

3. How can marketers utilise social media effectively to reach their

desired

target

audience?

hpter II
Literture Review
Wht i New Medi?
New medi re webite nd other digitl ommunition nd
informtion hnnel in whih tive onumer engge in behvior tht
n be onumed by other both in rel time nd long fterwrd
regrdle of their ptil lotion. We now diu the defining
hrteriti of new medi.

Digitl
The digitl hrter of new medi implie tht there re virtully no
mrginl ot for produing extr opie of digitl produt nd tht
individul n eily ditribute their retion to globl udiene
without hving to p through trditionl gte keeper uh
publiher. nybody with n internet onnetion n blog, write review,
report on new event both big nd mll, or hre ong, video or even
novel with the world.

Pro-tive
onumer ue new medi to ontribute to ll prt of the vlue hin,
rnging from uperfiil rtiultion (review on retil or fn ite) to
extenive o-retion (teting new bet produt nd reporting flw to

the ompny, or even olletively developing open-oure produt uh

the Firefox brower; Hoyer et l. 2010; Krihnmurthy 2009).

Viible
onumer new medi tivitie n be een by other. Entrie mde by
onumer in forum, blog, nd oil ommunitie n be trked by
other onumer well ompnie. Mobile ervie ue informtion on
onumer ptil poition reported by GP, 3G, nd IP ddree for
generting lotion-enitive mege, offer, nd mrket differentition
(e.g., different offer nd prie for film downlod).

Rel-time nd memory
New medi n be eed by onumer t the time they re produed,
llowing onumer to hre experiene in reltime with Twitter, ht,
nd blog. uh omment nd review re often lo vilble
indefinitely, o tht potentil utomer my be reding bout negtive
(nd poitive) utomer experiene for yer into the future (e.g., the
2001 Houton Doubletree inident; nope 2006). Memory i lo ruil
for peronlizing future intertion.

Ubiquitou

New medi llow onumer to reh (nd be rehed by) other

onumer nd ompnie lmot nywhere t ny time through their
mobile devie. They n red review of produt when hopping in
retil tore, nd n pot review of new movie when the redit re
till rolling in the movie theter on opening night.

Network
Plying Pinbll
oneptul Frmework of New Medi Impt Figure 1
how the oneptul frmework of the role of new medi for utomer
reltionhip.

Trditionlly,

ompnie

tively

influene

utomer

reltionhip through their mrketing tion inluding reltionhip

intrument uh loylty progrm (rrow ) nd, both tive nd
retive, through publi reltion (bidiretionl rrow F). utomer were
predominntly pive reeiver of mrketing nd medi informtion
(unidiretionl rrow B nd E), with ompnie who were ble to void
negtive m medi overge hving lmot omplete ontrol over the
brnd-hping mege nd, reult, reltionhip outome uh
utomer retention (rrow ) through their own tion. The bottom
portion of Figure 1 illutrte how the rie of new medi hnge the
mrketing environment. Tody, the flow of informtion bout brnd h
beome

multidiretionl,

interonneted,

nd

diffiult

to

predit.

Mrketer hve lot ontrol over their brnd, but now prtiipte in
onvertion bout the brnd (Deighton nd Kornfeld 2009). In the er

of new medi, mnging utomer reltionhip i like plying pinbll

ompnie erve up mrketing bll (brnd nd brnd-building
mege) into ophonou environment, whih i then diverted nd
often elerted by new medi bumper, whih hnge the offering
oure in hoti wy. fter the mrketing bll i in ply, mrketing
mnger ontinue to guide it with gile ue of the flipper, but the bll
doe not lwy go where it i intended to nd the lightet miue n
be mplified into ttrophi rii.

Figure 1. oneptul pinbll frmework: effet of new medi on

utomer reltionhip

In the new medi er, ompnie ontinue to erve up produt,

ervie nd mege through trditionl hnnel (rrow , F), but
lo through new medi hnnel (rrow K). onider Dove mpign
for Rel Beuty (Deighton 2007), where Unilever deided to repoition it
45-yer-old (when the mpign begn) Dove brnd round women elf
eteem. Rther thn puhing brnd mege t onumer they
would hve done in the pt, Unilever engged onumer in
onvertion bout elf eteem, ombining trditionl nd new medi
hnnel. In ddition to buying every billbord in the Grnd entrl Trin
ttion in one mpign, nd uper Bowl d in nother (rrow nd
F), they lo ued new medi uh extended YouTube video (rrow
K). ll hve been deigned to provoke the onvertion.
While Dove bll h often gone extly where it w intended,
generting overge on hundred of TV New progrm, inluding the
Tody how nd n entire epiode of Oprh, thi w not lwy the e.
onumer (nd orgniztion uh Greenpee) mde their own
prodie of the YouTube video nd d (rrow G), whih were then
piked-up by lte-night TV omedin (rrow J). Thee prodie ( well
their trditionl medi vrition ee rrow I) hve pred quikly
nd hve been viewed million of time. entrl quetion i how ll of
thee reverbertion within the new-medi environment ffet wht
Dove reltionl prtner utomer think nd feel (rrow H) nd how
he or he t with regrd to the Dove brnd, both in term of buying the

brnd (rrow ) nd ommuniting bout it through new medi (rrow

H). Returning to pinbll, doe thi dd point to the bord?
onumer tht ore high on both kind of ttitude will exhibit
high new medi brnd enggement non-purhe utomer behvior
tht involve new medi, uh reting nd wthing YouTube video
bout the brnd, blog, web ite, review, et. Reltionhip outome
onidered in thi reerh inlude hort-term (e.g., purhe) nd longterm (e.g., utomer lifetime vlue nd it omponent inluding retention
rte nd monetry vlue) meure.
The ure f thi er i t ritilly review reent develment
in il netwrk medi. While mny in the mrketing mmunity re
rthing their hed wndering hw the reent genertin f web-bed
il medi will generte rfit, thi er tke the eretive f
diret mrketing by king why nd hw mege ent by mny
my be mre effetive if it i trgeted t individul thrugh il
netwrk medi. In rtiulr, the ntin i exlred tht uer' exeriene
f uing il medi will redie them t lk mre fvurbly un
mny nred mege when it i embedded in il medi, rther
thn trgeted diretly t the individul.

The Psychology behind buying behavior

Prof Theodore Levitt (Subramani and Rajagopalan, 2003, p304) said

I think it is a process of trying to think your way through why people
behave in certain ways. Or if not why, then what that behaviour is likely
to be given to certain kinds of products. It is pretty clear understanding
consumer perceptions is a process that requires both financial and time
resource, yet this by no means guarantees success alone (Ghauri and
Cateora, 2005). Lomas, (2009) say that if we consider the behavioural
psychology of an individual (which concentrated on inputs and stimuli) it
becomes apparent that people respond to stimuli generated by the
messages around them. Cova & Cova, (2002) suggests that when
consumers buy a product, they buy it not only for its use, but also for the
linking value that it has in the society. Muniz & Guinn (2001) who studied
the Saab users community pointed out that a few members thought of
changing the car but then decided against it as then they wont be
accepted in the community.
Cognitive psychology states that the buying behaviour is governed
by a number of psychological variables including perception, motivation,
attitude and personality. Perception refers to how adverts are interpreted
and remembered by a consumer (Ehrenberg, 2000). Ehrenberg, (2000),
illustrates how often consumers engage in selective perception, a process
described as the psychological screening out of stimuli they do not want
to see and only focusing on what they want. This concept also comes into
fruition in the packaging of the product. The response to a particular
advert is governed by the Behaviour Psychology which responds to the

messages that a consumer mind is subjected to by things like adverts,

mail messages or social media. Researcher Solomon (2002) suggests that
generally there are two factors which govern the response given by the
viewer to a particular advert and these response determine whether he /
she will go into the nest stage of being a buyer or not. The first is the
internal factor with which Solomon (2002) means that a customer will
only pay attention if the subject of the advert is of importance to him. If a
customer is thinking of buying a car, he will pay attention to a car advert
rather than an advert for a cereal. The second factor is the external
factor where the visuals of the advert take centre stage and have a key
influence in determining whether the advertising content is paid attention
to (Ayoob & Zimmerman, 2004).

hpter III
Methodology
Reerh Method
A focu group of qualitative reearch wa adopted, in which a group
of people are aked about their perception, opinion, belief and
attitude toward a product, ervice, concept, advertiement, idea, or
packaging. Quetion are aked in an interactive group etting where
participant are free to talk with other group member.
Billy, pproh purue ft nd i employed when reerher
deire to quire ttitil truth. ording to Gll, Gll nd Borg (2003),
quntittive reerh ume tht the oil environment h objetive
relity tht i reltively ontnt ro time nd etting, while
qulittive reerh ume tht individul ontrut relity in the form
of mening nd interprettion, nd tht thee ontrution tend to be
trnitory nd itutionl.

Research Design
The research will be based on secondary data collection. The data
will be extracted from various journals, articles and books. In secondary
research data will be extracted from various journals, books and articles.
Qualitative research will be used for proposed study. Qualitative
research is more subjective as compared to quantitative research and
uses very different methods of collecting information which could be both
primary and secondary. As already mentioned this study will choose the

secondary

method.

The

theme

of

this

type

of

research

will

be

investigative along with open-ended.

This type of research is often less expensive than outlines and is
extremely effective by acquiring information. It is often the method of
choice in the examples where quantitative measurement is not required.
While the two reerh pprohe nd their repetive mode of
inquirie provide enormou benefit to reerher who utilize them,
there re everl limittion tht mut be onidered. One ritiim of the
quntittive reerh pproh i tht the reerher perpetive i not
onidered in the explntion of the reerh. lerly, there re
limittion in numeril preenttion in the omplexity of humn
behvior. The quntittive reerh pproh often h diffiultie in
expreing the problem prtiulrly if the reerher del with the
pyhologil dimenion in humn being. Ultimtely, even though the
quntittive reerh pproh eek objetive vlue, the omplexity of
the oiety, hnge over time, nd ulturl differene mke it
impoible for ll reerh to be vlue neutrl. In ft, it i debted
whether neutrl vlue reerh exit t ll in omplex modern oiety.
While the quntittive reerh pproh provide generlizbility, it
i diffiult in the qulittive reerh pproh to generlize to other
reerh etting minly beue it i limited by the reerher unique
viewpoint. In other word, theoretil model developed for one reerh
projet i diffiult to generlize to other reerh projet. long thi line,
Einer nd Pehkin (1990) k whether it i poible to preent reerh

vlue with the unique itution of the qulittive reerh pproh nd

how

reerh

knowledge

be

umulted

if

there

re

no

generliztion on the reerh. Moreover, the qulittive reerh

pproh i limited by it nture tht the reerher ontrol the
reerh.
onidering the trength nd wekne of quntittive nd
qulittive pprohe, the urrent reerh employed the priniple of
both quntittive nd qulittive reerh pprohe. entrl to the
diuion of the rtionle behind the mixed method trtegy i the ft
tht knowledge i umulted from vriety of oure in vriety of
wy, thu, methodologil diverity (Fike nd hweder, 1986) i
needed. Billy, the mixed method pproh propoe tht trditionl
ientifi pprohe (quntittive) nd their lterntive (qulittive)
hve their ple nd hould be vlued.
In the word of Brker, Pitrng, nd Elliott (2002), no ingle
pproh to reerh i bet overll, rther, wht i importnt i tht the
method be pproprite for the quetion under invetigtion. No ingle
reerh method i inherently uperior to ny other: ll method hve
their reltive dvntge nd didvntge (p. 245). Inted of lhing
one pproh gint nother, it i more fruitful to follow trtegy of
integrting thee method. The primry benefit i tht uing uh
pproh reult to plurlim whih n our in n integrtive wy. Thi
loe the gp between the quntittive nd the qulittive pprohe.

In reviewing the literture, there re only few ritiim of the

mixed method reerh pproh, nd thee ritiim point minly to the
quetion of tndrd. In their ommentry on iue in prtiiptory
tion reerh, Riger et l. (2004) poe the quetion Whoe tndrd
re ued to evlute [reerh] qulity, nd wht re thoe tndrd?
(p. 237). The eond quetion eem to be the lunhing pd of the
riti in ttking the mixed method pproh. reult, the prtil
iue of how to mke judgment bout the qulity of divere tyle of
reerh i ontntly fed by focus group dvoting thi pproh.
riti lim tht it i impoible to mintin tndrd ro different
genre of reerh. For exmple, wht tndrd n be ued to evlute
piee of ethnogrphy well rndomized experiment? It i
uggeted tht the bene of omprehenive tndrd mke the mixed
method pproh equivlent to nrhy.

Question 1
In what ways do social media affect customer online purchasing
behaviour?
A wealth of evidence shows that the online social media boom and the
fact that many consumers now have access to content that is unmoderated, not controlled and is readily accessible in real time has had a
significant impact customer online purchasing behaviour. Whilst literature
indicates that the social media has a significant effect on customer online
purchasing behaviour (Muniz & Guinn, 2001; Solomon, 2002; Ayoob &

Zimmerman, 2004) the ways in which social media affect customer online
purchasing behaviour remains under explored. Further clarification on the
ways social media affects customer online purchasing behaviour is
required.

Question 2
How the advent of Social Media affects customer perceptions
towards their favourite brands?
With the internet now the first point of contact for many consumers,
the breadth of information now widely accessible to consumers surfing the
World Wide Web has meant no longer are consumers restricted to only
positive brand advertisement stimuli. Rather, consumer reviews, social
networking pages and other social media content formats has meant that
customers can see both the positive negative publicity about a particular
brand before making an informed decision. Further research into how this
social media content exposure has influenced customer perceptions of
their

favourite

brands

will

provide

organisations

with

greater

understanding of how social media can be used effectively and help

sustain a positive perception the customer holds of a particular brand.

Question 3
How can marketers utilise social media effectively to reach their desired
target audience?

Literature indicates that social media presents a new and dynamic

way of interacting with consumers (Brace-Govan & Burgh-Woodman,
2007). Whilst there is some indication that it facilitates more direct
marketing, viral videos, live one to one customer support, the use of
social marketing media sites, community forums (Brace-Govan & BurghWoodman, 2007), customer feedback reviews are all identified as
potential ways in which social media can be used to reach their desired
target audience, there is much ambiguity in determining precisely which
form of social media is more effective. Further clarification into how can
marketers utilise social media effectively to reach their desired target
audience

is

required.

hpter IV
nlyi

Key New Medi Phenomen: How and When

In the New Medi box of our frmework, we hve orgnized
phenomen into two brod tegorie, Informtion nd ervie nd
Tehnologie. The firt tegory refer to digitl ontent nd the new
kind of onumer behvior tht reult from it; the eond tegory i
bout new medi infrtruture. Tble 1 overview the new medi
phenomen nd reerh implition we onider prtiulrly relevnt
for eh phenomenon.

New Medi Informtion nd ervie

New multimedi ervie
onumer

tody

dedite

ubtntil

onuming new multimedi ontent,

time

whih inlude

produing

nd

video hring

pltform uh YouTube, mui treming ervie uh Pndor,

online video gme nd MMOG, nd virtul world uh eond Life.
lot of wht i going on in thee ervie h to do with brnd nd
ompnie; onumer uplod dvertiement nd their own o-lled
poof nd mh-up (ee the Dove exmple bove prtiulrly
ueful video w titled lob Evolution, howing the deteriortion of
onumer by uing the Dove d deign; The Inpirtion Room 2008)
nd prtiipte in brnd-hoted event in eond Life.

Undertnding onumer
Very little i known bout onumer behvior with regrd to new
multimedi produt. Kpln nd Henlein (2009b) ondut qulittive
interview with eond Life uer nd identify key motivtion for
prtiiption; they onlude tht uer onider eond Life not mere
omputer gme, but n extenion of their rel life. Bkhy, Krrer,
nd dmi (2009) how tht oil network within eond Life lo
determine onumer doption behvior. Hinz et l. (2009) find tht
peifi deiion-mking pttern exit in the MMOG World of Wrrft,
with the onumer vtr (nd prtiulrly their feeling of preene)
being importnt. dvertiing ontitute the bkbone of mny brnd

reltionhip, mrketer hould be intereted in lerning how new

multimedi ontent ffet the onumption of trditionl medi uh
TV. Wldfogel (2009) tudy hint t redution of TV viewing reult
of the onumption of YouTube nd relted ite, but lo t n inree
in

time

pent

on

network

webite;

other

tudie

lo

ugget

nnibliztion between new medi nd TV (e.g., OED 2007). Reerh

need to ount for the different kind of new multimedi nd potentil
poitive pillover effet with other hnnel (e.g., DVD). The me i
true for tremed mui; doe litening to Pndor influene rdio
onumption nd mui purhe? With new medi beoming n
importnt dvertiing hnnel itelf, reltionhip mnger lo need to
undertnd onumer demnd for new multimedi ontent. Elborte
preditive model exit for TV nd thetril hnnel (e.g., HennigThuru, Houton, nd Wlh 2006; Litmn 1979), but we dont know
wht mke video hit on YouTube i it the video itelf or the oil
network proe? firt tep, Oh, url, nd Tn (2008) model
diffuion pttern of YouTube video by extending the B model for
oil network omponent (ee lo the individul-level pproh by
tephen nd Berger 2009).

utomer intertion
fundmentl iue i undertnding wht type of buine
model will ueed for multimedi ite. Undertnding onumer
willingne to py in thee new medi environment would be n

importnt trt. Regrding dvertiing, new multimedi ite opertor nd

dvertier re intereted in lerning how dvertiement n be
effetively pled in the different multimedi ervie. Reerh ugget
tht online dvertiement n be effetive offline d (e.g.,
Gllgher, Foter, nd Pron 2001), nd tht ynergie n be relized
between the two ontext (Nik nd Peter 2009). Henlein nd Kpln
(2009) nlyze the effet of virtul flghip brnd tore on eond Life
nd find uh tore to poitively influene onumer brnd ttitude
nd rel-life purhe intention towrd the brnd. Wht kind of
dvertiing i mot peruive on multimedi ite? How hould budget
be lloted between different new multimedi ite? In term of brnd
mngement, how hould ompnie ret when onumer ritiize them
publilly vi the new multimedi hnnel, muiin Dve rroll did
on YouTube with United irline fter experiening evere ervie filure
(hi ong United brek guitr even hit the mui hrt; Hrvey
2009)? Domino Pizz revenue delined nd it brnd imge uffered
fter two employee uplodted video on You- Tube howing them doing
diguting thing to pizz (Beubien 2009). Their repone might offer
initil ide on how to hndle uh rii itution ued by new
multimedi ontent, treing the role of regining onumer trut in uh
itution whih n our nd pred wildly in the new multimedi
hnnel. The Dove e provide initil ide how new multimedi
ervie n be uefully ued by ompny for brnd development
(Deighton 2007), but quetion on how to do o remin.

utomer meurement nd reltionhip outome

New multimedi ervie offer mple opportunitie for meuring
onumer brnd ttitude nd brnd enggement. But how n the
bundne of behviorl dt generted on multimedi ite through
regitered

member

be employed?

Exiting tudie

diu

rther

generlly poible extenion of nrrtive nlyi for video hring ite

(Pe 2008) nd how virtul world n be ued for mrketing reerh
(Kpln nd Henlein 2009). Regrding dvertiing, how n mnger
void negleting long-term effet required for brnd building nd
reltionhip development when uing lik-trem dt, whih foue on
hort-term onumer behvior (e.g., Qui nd Mlthoue 2009)? n
onumer

behvior

in

virtul

world

be

ued

for

rel-world

predition? t thi point, it i lo unler how exiting brnd

reltionhip re ffeted by new medi ervie. To wht extent n
utomer nd brnd equity be influened by YouTube mpign, event
nd tore in virtul world, nd plement in MMOG?

Digitl onumer rtiultion

onumer ue new medi for hring omment nd review
bout ervie nd produt nd the ompnie tht produe them. The
hnnel whih re ued for uh rtiultion re multifriou nd
inlude portl uh io.om, retil webite uh mzon.om,

online trvel gent ite uh orbitz.om. nd whitle blowing

webite uh untied.om. New medi mke uh rtiultion
whih hve been lbeled eletroni word-of-mouth (EWOM; HennigThuru et l. 2004) eible to online nd even offline hopper,
onumer n ue mobile devie to reding returnt review while out
on the town. EWOM n eily be forwrded to other ( prtie tht
h led to the prominene of the Doubletree inident, where n
uploded Powerpoint omplint prepred by n individul onumer w
hred numerou time vi emil), uully h no terminl dte, nd i
now vilble in rel-time through Twitter nd imilr intnt-meging
ervie. demontrted by Dve rroll omplint video bout United
irline, EWOM i not retrited to text, but n be multimedi.

Undertnding onumer
Reerh h hed ome light on the motivtion tht drive EWOM
nd it onumption, finding tht oil-pyhologil, identity, nd
utilitrin motive re mong the mot relevnt one for poting EWOM
(Brown, Broderik, nd Lee 2007; Hennig-Thuru et l. 2004), while
onuming EWOM i trongly driven by utilitrin motive uh getting
purhe- or onumption-relted dvie (Hennig- Thuru nd Wlh
2004). mot exiting reerh ignore the heterogeneity of EWOM
bout produt, we onider onumer eletion of review nd their
ubequent evlution n exiting re for future reerh. Initil
finding indite tht onumer eem to vlue review text more thn

ummry ttiti (e.g., tr; hevlier nd Myzlin 2006), nd

onider the uthor expertie (en nd Lermn 2007) nd redibility
(Brown, Broderik, nd Lee 2007; Myzlin 2006). In n intertive forum
ontext, pereived informtion vlue depend on other onumer
evlution of the uthor previou poting nd the uthor repone
peed nd bredth of repone (Wei, Lurie, nd MInni 2008).
Extreme nd deep review re onidered more helpful by onumer, but
thi differ between produt (Mudmbi nd huff 2010).

utomer intertion
mjor hllenge for ompnie i to develop pproprite
repone trtegie to negtive EWOM (e.g., Roehm nd Tybout 2006;
tu 2000). How hould hot mnge ht ite, e.g., enoring or
filtering ontent, moderting diuion (Gordon 2010)? Doe it mke
ene

to

internlize

onumer

rtiultion,

i.e.,

by

offering

orgniztion own webite n open forum? Gode nd Myzlin (2009)

nlyze the retion of EWOM by the ompny itelf nd find tht uh
firm-initited EWOM h tronger effet on le loyl utomer nd
nonutomer thn on loyl one, nd Kozinet et l. (2010) ditinguih
different oil medi ommunition trtegie. Wht re pproprite
wy to intert with onumer who hve poted negtive review?

utomer meurement nd reltionhip outome

 mjor limittion of exiting reerh on EWOM i the lk of

onitent meurement pprohe, with exiting meure oming from
different pltform (e.g., blog, Yhoo, Brne & Noble, Uenet),
indutrie, (e.g., movie, book, oftwre), ndfor EWOM vlene
oding pprohe (e.g., tr, text nlyi). o, more work on the
meurement of EWOM i needed (D nd hen 2007; Dwyer 2007).
The me i true for modeling pprohe; we expet modeling
differene to ount for ome of the reported inonitenie reported
bove. key problem i the potentilly endogenou role of EWOM (Dun,
Gu, nd Whinton 2008; Gode nd Myzlin 2004). Regrding the effet
of EWOM on reltionhip outome, finding re till omewht unler,
probbly beue of the differing meurement nd modeling pprohe.
Mot of the exiting reerh h tken n ggregte-level perpetive
nd tudied hedoni produt. While Liu (2006) find tht the volume, but
not the vlene of EWOM explin the ue of new movie, Dun, Gu,
nd Whinton (2008) report tht both EWOM vlene nd volume drive
movie

box

offie

revenue,

nd

hintgunt,

Gopinth,

nd

Venktrmn (2010) find vlene to be the mjor driver. Dhr nd

hng (2009) find tht the volume of blog pot i poitively orrelted
with future le of mui lbum, while hevlier nd Myzlin (2006)
how tht, for book retiler, n improvement in EWOM vlene led to
n inree in le. Luo (2009) reult indite tht ertin kind of
negtive EWOM ffet h flow nd tok prie.

utomer retiler
New medi provide onumer with extenive opportunitie to
beome retiler themelve. While fle mrket nd grge le hve
long trdition, their eonomi impt h been rther mrginl beue of
the requirement to meet peronlly. The internet enble onumer to
ell ued nd vintge good vi webite like mzon Mrketple nd
offer their hndmde produt (e.g., jewelry) through pltform like
Ety.om to other Internet uer ll over the world. reult, online
onumer le dwrf trditionl offline le (hu nd Lio 2007). lo
ervie (e.g., repiring TV et) re inreingly being old over the
internet by individul
vi the ue of peilized portl.

Undertnding onumer
ome tudie hve looked t onumer interet in ued produt,
often browing t fle mrket nd tking onumer ulture theory
perpetive (herry 1990). However, extnt reerh onider uh
behvior funny nihe tivity, while new medi h trnformed it
into m phenomenon. o, do fle mrketrelted finding hold for new
medi onumer retiling? Under whih ondition do onumer prefer
ued produt to new one? Furthermore, doe the poibility to eily
reell produt vi the internet hnge onumer purhe behvior
(e.g., re onumer more willing to buy ertin produt if they ee the
poibility to reell them lter)? nd doe the purhe of ued (nd

uully le vluble) produt ffet onumer brnd pereption? In

ontrt to new produt, the brnd pperne nnot be ontrolled by
the produing ompny. Intereting reerh quetion lo rie from
the brodening of utomer-ompny reltionhip tht our when
utomer t retiler. How do onumer who hold poitive
ttitude to eBy utomer ervie blne thi ttitude with negtive
pereption of eBy tretment of them eller?

utomer intertion
The preene of online eond-hnd m mrket poe the thret
of nniblizing the le of new good. But it ould lo be rgued tht
eond-hnd mrket inree the vlue of produt tht demontrte
low oboleene nd long produt life yle. In buine-to-buine
ontext, Ghoe, Telng, nd Krihnn (2005) invetigte the implition
of eletroni eond-hnd mrket on upplyhin profit nd new good
prie, nd find tht n inree in the vilbility of ued produt
deree the prie of new produt nd, thu, hrm upplier. Doe
thi finding lo hold for onumer mrket? lo, for whih indutrie
nd produt tegorie i the growth of eond-hnd mrket importnt,
nd wht role do brnd ply in thi repet?
How doe utomer-oriented behvior ffet utomer tht lo t
retiler? How hould utomer orienttion be blned with retiler
orienttion

by

ompnie

tht

mintin

dul

reltionhip

with

onumer? n tkeholder mngement (e.g., Freemn 1984) be ued

for uefully mnging uh dul reltionhip? Mrketing reerh

might lo wnt to tke the perpetive of the onumer eller of
produt. Wht i the bet environment for generting profit, nd wht i
the repetive vlue of the pltform (e.g., mzon Mrketple) nd the
network of other retiler? tephen nd Toubi (2010) revel initil
inight by tudying the vlue of the oil network between individul
(onumer) eller on lrge pltform.

utomer meurement nd reltionhip outome

Dt on online rele mrket i widely vilble nd might be
ueful for multiple prtie. How n ompnie ue uh informtion to
gin inight into the onumer qulity pereption of the produt over
time nd it life yle? Doe the le of brnded produt ontitute the
ending of the brnd reltionhip or the beginning of new life yle phe
(mybe with n improved verion of the produt)? n uh informtion
be embedded in exiting egmenttion model? nd n ompnie
motivte onumer tht ell nd buy produt to hre informtion with
the

ompny,

thi

would

be

required

for

future

peronlized

ommunition? Regrding reltionhip outome, retiler like mzon

nd pltform provider like eBy tht hot multiple reltionhip would
benefit

from

lerning

how

tiftion nd retention

Online oil ommunitie

utomer

dul

role

ffet

utomer

onumer pend ubtntil hre of their oil life on webite

uh

Mype

nd

Febook,

whih

hot

o-lled

online

ommunitie onumer group tht intert online to hieve peronl

well hred gol of their member (e.g., Dholki, Bgozzi, nd
Klein Pero 2004). Online ommunitie omplement their relworld
ounterprt (e.g., hu, Munitz, nd rnould 2009) nd erve
forum for onumer exhnging thought nd ide. Firm re
inreingly trying to ue online ommunitie to enhne their utomer
reltionhip (Mlexnder, houten, nd Koenig 2002). For exmple, in
online ommunitie of informtion tehnology firm uh HewlettPkrd nd Mirooft experiened utomer upport peer utomer
who fe produt-relted problem (onumer upport forum; e.g.,
Mthwik, Wiertz, nd De Ruyter 2008).

Undertnding onumer
Previou reerh motly foue on reon why onumer
prtiipte in online ommunitie nd how tive prtiiption mong
ommunity member n be mintined (e.g., Koh et l. 2007; Wiertz
nd De Ruyter 2007). For onumer upport forum, Nmbin nd Bron
(2009) provide empiril evidene for the ritil role of four onumer
benefit (lerning/ognitive, oil, hedoni, nd ttu) for tive
ommunity prtiiption, nd Dholki et l. (2010) upport the relevne
of funtionl nd oil benefit in the me ontext. Both reult mirror
the generl motivtion for new medi uge derived from ue nd

grtifition theory bove. Relted, ledginowki nd Kulviwt (2009)

tudy uer doption of oil network ite nd find tht (pereived)
plyfulne nd ritil m ttrt onumer mot. Le ttention h
been dedited to the effet tht onumer tive prtiiption in
online ommunitie h on onumer behvior (e.g., nri, Koenigberg,
nd thl 2008; De Vlk, vn Bruggen, nd Wiereng 2009).

utomer intertion
Mrketer re howing growing interet in orgnizing nd
mnging online ommunitie (Bgozzi nd Dholki 2002). Given tht
ommunition within ommunitie n ffet brnd pereption, how n
generl

ommunitie

uh

Febook

be

ued

for

brnd

mngement? nd wht kind of brnd ommunition i mot promiing

wht benefit mut brnd offer ommunity member to turn them into
their

virtul

friend?

How

hould

brnd

owner

ret

to

the

development of brnd ommunitie tht re operted independently?

Wht re the rik of uh ommunitie (e.g., hijking of ommunity
by ompetitor brnd)? Regrding ervie-upport forum, it i ruil to
undertnd the ondition under whih uh ommunitie work. Wiertz et
l. (2010) tudy governne mehnim nd find tht normtive nd
meritorti governne intert in omplex wy. Reerh i deired on
the role in whih ompnie tht run uh ommunity hould dedite
ervie peronnel when utomer provide inomplete, wrong or offending
nwer to other utomer quetion. nd hould onumer be

timulted to ontribute vi eonomi inentive, or do uh timuli

rowd-out onumer intrini motivtion, leding to leer enggement
inted of inreing it, uggeted by elf-determintion theory?

utomer meurement nd reltionhip outome

Virtul ommunitie uully ollet tremendou mount of dt.
mjor meurement-relted hllenge refer to how ompnie n
obtin uble informtion on onumer tivitie nd ommunition
generted in uh ommunitie. lthough it i reltively ey to ollet
informtion bout wht ommunity member y bout brnd, it would
be vluble to lo pture the truture of ommunition proee
within the ommunity; oil network nlyi (e.g., Berkowitz 1982) h
been introdued promiing methodologil pproh. nother iue i
onumer willingne to provide peronl dt to ompnie (e.g., Nene
2009; Peltier, Milne, nd Phelp 2009), more informtion i needed on the
ondition under whih onumer re willing to revel uh informtion.
Finlly, dt integrtion will ue hllenge, dt generted in online
ommunitie

nd

firm

trntion

dt

uully

re

eprte

informtion oure, whih hve to be merged. Regrding reltionhip

outome,

exiting

reerh

hown

tht

referrl

in

online

ommunitie enhne utomer quiition (Truov, Buklin, nd Puwel

2009).