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CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT IN ONLINE COMMUNITIES Kristina Heinonen Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland Heinonen, K. (2013), Consumer Engagement In Online Communities, in QUIS 13: Service excellence in management, Wästlund, E., Edvardsson, E., Gustafsson, A., Bitner, M-J., and Verma, R. (eds.), ISBN: 978-91-7063-506-9, pp.119-128

ABSTRACT The popularity of online communities among consumers is growing. Online communities gather people with focused needs and interests around an organizational practice, such as brands, services, or products, or a common field of interest. The purpose of this paper is to describe consumer engagement by exploring factors that either strengthen or weaken consumer’s engagement with online communities of interest. The paper presents five factors that weaken and ten factors that strengthen consumers’ relationship engagement with online communities of interest. The qualitative approach provides an overview of members’ main benefits and drawbacks of online communities, and how online communities of interest are integrated in the daily lives. INTRODUCTION Online communities gather people with focused needs and interests around an organizational practice, such as brands, services, or products, or a common field of interest (Dubé, Bourhis & Jacobs 2006). Many studies on online communities have focused on brand communities, i.e. communities centred on a brand (McAlexander, Schouten & Koenig 2002, Ouwersloot & Odekerken-Schröder 2008, Muñiz & O’Guinn 2001). In contrast, communities of interest, i.e. communities centred on members’ interest in different life themes, such as hobbies, practices, or activities, (Close, Finney, Lacey & Sneath 2006, de Burgh-Woodman & BraceGovan 2007) have received less attention. Much emphasis is on how brand communities emerge, such as word-of-mouth, shared rituals and traditions, and marketing (McAlexander, Schouten & Koenig 2002), or consumer motivations for joining brand communities, such as quality reassurance, brand involvement, joint consumption opportunity, and brand’s symbolic function (Ouwersloot & Odekerken-Schröder 2008). Despite the current emphasis on brand communities, studies have explored consumer motivations for joining or using online communities, attributes that describe how the virtual community affects the social context, and how the virtual community is transforming society (Raacke & Bonds-Raacke 2008, Lin 2006, Romm, Pliskin & Clarke 1997, McKenna

& Green 2002). Many studies emphasise factors that hinder, rather than motivate, individuals to join communities, i.e. technological (e.g. accessibility, reliability, or flexibility), motivational (e.g. conservatism, fear of change, or lack of involvement), task related (e.g. task inappropriateness), or system related factors (e.g. political, cultural, environment and structural aspects) (McKenna & Green 2002). Individuals’ motivations to join online groups have also been compared with traditional offline groups (de Burgh-Woodman & Brace-Govan 2007). However, prior studies mostly explore interpersonal relationships and group dynamics, and not individuals’ relationship with online communities of interest, nor factors that build or reduce consumers’ engagement. Only few studies have investigated factors influencing consumers’ ongoing relationship with an online community. Some studies have addressed factors that influence users’ motivation of or attraction to online communities (Close, Finney, Lacey & Sneath 2006, de Burgh-Woodman & Brace-Govan 2007, Raacke & Bonds-Raacke 2008), however, only few studies have explored consumers’ engagement with online communities. Consumer engagement has received much focus in recent research (Brodie et al 2011, van Doorn, Lemon, Mittal, Pick, Pirner, Verhoef 2010) and further theoretical and empirical research on engagement is called for (Brodie et al 2013). Research on consumer engagement typically emphasise customer-brand relationships (Bowden 2009, Cova & Pace 2006, Hollebeek 2011). However, studies on engagement in online communities of interest are scarce. Recently a study on consumer engagement in an online brand community context described consumers’ engagement activities in terms of learning, sharing, co-developing, socializing, and advocating (Brodie et al 2013). Another study explored consumers’ relationship engagement by describing different stages of members’ relationship development (Heinonen 2011). The study representing one of few studies focused on online communities of interest described the recognized, considered, committed, faded, and inactive stages. Forces that either advance, reverse, or inhibit the relationship from developing were also identified. However, the different facets of consumer engagement are still underexplored. The aim of this study is to describe consumer engagement by exploring factors that either strengthen or weaken consumer’s engagement with online communities of interest. Online communities of interest are seen as websites where consumers are able to interact, share, and gather information around mutual interests and goals. Similar to recent research on consumer engagement (e.g. Brodie et al 2011), consumer engagement denotes in this paper members’ cognitive, emotional and behavioural enthusiasm to a specific area of interest. The focus is on

users’ engagement with the theme of the online community as an entity, and other relationships users may have with specific brands or other community members are excluded. METHODOLOGY Two netnographic studies were conducted. As communities linked to specialty magazines have been found to be strong (Davidson, McNeill, and Ferguson 2007), an online community associated with the website of a magazine was chosen for the study. Although the website was maintained by the magazine, the online community was not centred on the brand, rather around the broad theme of the magazine, namely household and family-related topics. Data were collected by linking the online questionnaire at the discussion forum. The questionnaire included three qualitative questions about respondents’ relationship with the online community. The first question emphasized the relationship beginning, and respondents were asked to describe the situation when they decided to use the online community for the first time. The second question concerned the reasons for using this specific online community. Thirdly, respondents were asked to describe their relationship with the service provider. The resulting narratives are the respondents’ own wording and thus exactly represent respondents’ perceived reality. The respondents were self-selected resulting in a total sample size of N=243. The narratives were coded and content analysed based on similarities and differences using the coding program NVivo. The findings from the two studies were kept separate. A thematic variable-oriented approach (Miles & Huberman 1994, Braun & Clarke 2006) was used to identify themes that cut across cases. The respondents’ own terminology was used to develop codes for the categories by conceptualizing and abstracting the meaning of the words (Strauss & Corbin 1998). The codes were subsequently analysed and reduced by following an open-coding technique (Miles & Huberman 1994) that has been argued to be especially appropriate for theory building. Additionally, insight was taken from the literature to find consistencies with the qualitative data. This refinement in the coding is consistent with abductive logic (Patton 2002) where theoretical and qualitative insight evolves iteratively. The qualitative data were categorized into two themes, either strengthening or weakening respondents’ relationship with the online community. The factors for the two categories evolved inductively. FINDINGS Structured with the two main categories, ten themes related to strengthening the relationship and five themes weakening the relationship

emerged from the analyses of the narratives. The participants were positive towards the specific online community, and consequently the number of respondents mentioning factors that weaken the engagement was lower than for factors strengthening engagement. Table 1: Factors influencing consumer engagement Study 1 Study 2 (N=115) (N=129) Factors strengthening Peer support 40 49 Relevant topics 30 40 Ease of use 25 30 Intensity of discussions 14 30 Life situation 26 14 Routines 18 12 Brand familiarity 12 17 Word-of-mouth 16 10 Entertainment 9 13 Inspiration 3 5 Factors weakening Irritation 6 11 Community intimacy 2 8 Time 4 5 Poor usability 0 8 Reliability 3 2

Total (N=243) 89 70 56 44 40 30 29 26 22 8 17 10 9 8 5

Factors strengthening consumer engagement Peer support: Peer support is important in strengthening consumers’ engagement with the online community. The relationships and friendships between the members create a sense of belonging and increase the perceived community value. Community members share their ups and downs with their peers and thus support to each other. Peer support also included tips and ideas for domestic problems. It is a question of both being able to share and getting useful, although highly personal advice. It is comforting to read that others in the same life situation have similar experiences as me. A64 It is a place to ease pressure and ask about concerning issues. A15 Relevance: Another important factor deepening engagement is the existence of relevant discussions among community members. It differs

from peer support in the sense that here the nature of valuable insight and perspectives and variety of discussions improve the understanding of a particular topic. In other words, the usefulness of member insights and experiences drive members to continue their visit to the community. From the site, I can find interesting topics and events that touch me. I can also always get an answer to a troubling issue. B65 Good discussion forum with different topics that touch my life and areas of interest. B72 Ease of use: The ease of use of the online community is a tangible factor that improves the use of the community and also strengthens consumer engagement. The community needs a clear structure that enables members to find relevant sections. I’ve tried also other sites, but this site is clearer than other sites. A37 Intensity of discussions: A related factor is the intensity of discussions that also deepen consumer engagement with the community. A broad range of topics is also dependent on the quantity and quality of the discussions. The more the members share their feelings and experiences and reveal glimpses of their private lives, the stronger consumer engagement to the community. It is a function of quantity – number of discussants – and quality – intimacy of discussion. Animated discussion, from where you can get much information to own problems. A97 The site has many visitors and new experiences and opinions emerge constantly. Other sites do not seem this active. A74 Life situation: Online communities of interest emphasise a particular topic or theme, and in the current study it involved family, parenthood, and domestic issues. Members’ life situation influenced strongly the frequency and intensity of visits at the community. The more the reality of the individual was related to the topic of the community, e.g. to pregnancy or small children, the stronger the relationship to the community. You meet other people in the same life situation and you always get someone to talk to if the walls at home seem to fall. B23 Routines: Visiting the online community may become a habit and this routine strengthens the relationship with the online community. Respondents who noted that they visited the online community as a habit or as a pastime also typically visited the community frequently. I’ve used the site now for four years and it has become a habit.B24 I learnt the system of the site and got acquainted with the users so discussion is easiest there. A8 Brand familiarity: Another factor that intensifies consumer engagement to the online community is brand familiarity. If the community is linked to an

existing brand, then the role of the community is strengthened. The respondents noted that the magazine functioned as a driver to use also the associated online community. I am the subscriber of the magazine since many years and therefore it felt natural to adhere to the site. A37 Word-of-mouth: Another important factor in increasing consumer engagement is the role of members’ social environment. Many respondents noted that they started using and became attached to the community because friends recommended the site. It must have been a friend saying that she read an answer to a problem there and this made me want to take a look at the site. A28 Entertainment: Respondents also mentioned that they continued to use the site because of the fun, provocative, and fascinating discussions. In many ways reading the discussions was a supplement to reading gossip magazines. I browse through the discussions in the same way as a women’s’ magazine. A102 Additionally, some discussions include hysterically fun questions and topics, and I often relax reading them while the baby is napping. A13 Inspiration: The theme of the community of interest was very important for the respondents, as indicated by the significant weight of relevant information. Another related aspect was the inspirational role of some information and discussions that inspired respondents to buy products or change their behaviour in some way. The discussions about clothes and shoes give me current information about offers in different stores and a good comparison of the quality of clothes and shoes. B35 I find good links and tips for cooking etc. A77 Factors weakening consumer engagement Five factors weakening members’ engagement with the online community were identified. Irritation: The role of other community members can also decrease consumer engagement towards the community. This is particularly related to the misbehaviour of others and irritation towards other users’ discussions, such as obscene, nonsense, or moralistic postings. Sometimes I get irritated by some users’ moralistic or argumentative behaviour. B42 There are some troublemakers on the open pages: It is so easy to write feistily when you are a faceless user… everybody does not care about netiquette. B89

Community intimacy: Also community intimacy can reduce relationship strength towards the community, if users do not feel that they belong to the community or if another community feels closer. Once the commitment between the members becomes strong, they may develop closed groups into which only certain members are invited. These groups are not necessarily situated in the case community and thus diminish the involvement between the group members and the case community. We created a community who meet live a few times a month. Nowadays I browse the site mostly for information because our community has moved to a closed site. A4 I then left the discussion on the site and went to a competing site, because the bunch there was not as cliquey as here. B35 Time: Also the user’s life situation and changes in interests and needs represent forces that drive the member to visit the community less frequently. Life situation represented by lack of time to visit the community can decrease member engagement. I visit regularly, but nowadays less frequently than when the baby was little. I will return to work in the fall, so probably the visit to the site will decrease remarkably. A97 Community changes: Changes in the user interface can push users towards visiting the community less frequently. The site structure or the usability may be perceived as more complicated. Also the decrease in number of visitors may influence member engagement. A long with the site reform my relationship [with the community] has changed from a love relationship to mostly hate relationship and the number of visits has decreased. The lousy site usability influences the brand for both the magazine and the whole company. B124 Subjectivity: The respondents mentioned that the amount of information found on the site increased their use of the community. Still, the subjectivity of the information, e.g. personal opinions and advice, reduced the perceived content value and thus pushed members to other sites. I critically evaluate the ”facts” in the discussions. A9 I don’t trust the ”information” I get from the site, so in case I really need some specific information, I search for it elsewhere. A73 DISCUSSION The study investigated consumers’ social and psychological factors of online community engagement by exploring consumer’s relationship engagement with an online community of interest. The qualitative approach enables a comprehensive analysis of factors strengthening and weakening consumers’ engagement in online communities. The study

also showed the main benefits and disadvantages of online communities, and how online communities of interest are integrated in the daily lives. The findings from the study have similarities with previous studies, especially studies regarding factors influencing why people join online communities (Lin 2006, Romm, Pliskin & Clarke 1997). Some factors were partly both strengthening and weakening the relationship, meaning that they have both positive and negative elements, such as closeness between members. We identified technological elements such as usability and quality of content as well as motivational factors such as life situation. In line with previous research (Antikainen 2007), the factors that strengthen and weaken members’ relationship with an online community are both person-related and service related. Service-related factors are such that community members can manage, by facilitating the use of the site, creating clear links between sections, and by administering the topics. Person-related factors are those that are more difficult for community maintainers to influence as they are based on both individual needs and preferences and the dynamics of the member constellation. However, community maintainers can attempt to influence the relationship strength also through these factors by facilitating the relationships between members, initiating relevant discussions, and developing the website layout to enable vivid and varied discussions. The study was exploratory, not aimed at producing generalizable findings, but detailed and meaningful data. Qualitative data gathered through an online questionnaire included in-depth narratives of the respondents’ own feelings and experiences. The narratives were thematically analyzed focusing on factors strengthening or weakening engagement rather than on individual member experiences of the online community. Several avenues for further research emerged from the study. The focus of the study can be shifted to other contexts, such as online communities of practice, brand communities, or social networking sites. Similar factors can be used to describe why people use social networks such as Facebook. Moreover, even though the study was focused on members’ relationship with the online community, member-to-member relationships strongly increased consumer engagement with the community. Similarly, member relationships have been found to be strong (Quinton & HarridgeMarch 2010), but further research needs to explore the nature of and factors strengthening members’ relationship to each other. Additionally, profiling members based on their online activity can provide more detailed insight regarding factors influencing members’ relationship with the online community. For example, consumer online activity has been shown to positively influence perceptions of online content (Heinonen 2011) and online relationships (Hsu, Wang & Tai 2011), and similarly it can be expected that more active members are more satisfied with their online

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