1. Online Communities
Why do We Participate?
FEBRUARY 7, 2013
THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GB, LONDON

2. ONLINE COMMUNITIES
WE DO WE PARTICIPATE?

3. EMPLOYEE – CUSTOMER CONVERSATION MATRIX
Employee Customer To Customer Customer To Customer Customer To Customer
To Employee P Employee To Customer Employee To Customer Employees Listen
r
Content & i Content & Content & Content &
Experience v Experience Experience Experience
a
t
e
Service & Service & Service & Service &
Support C Support Support Support
o
-
c
r
Product e Product Product Product
a
t Organisation Independent
i Organisation
Internal Managed Public Social
Owned & Managed
Intranet o Public Social Channels
Websites
n Channels
©Copyright - Purple Spinnaker Employee – Customer Conversation Matrix - 2013

4. WHY DO WE PARTICIPATE?
PARTICIPATION

5. ONLINE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION MODEL – 2004
A Conceptual Model of a Consumers Participation in and
Loyalty to an Online Community
Characteristics
Of Community H1
Member
Loyalty
Participation H3
To the
in the Online
Community Community
H2
Characteristics
Of Online
Community
Q1: Is there a positive relationship between characteristics of an online community and the level of participation of the members
Q2: Is there a positive relationship between member experience characteristics and the level of participation of the members.
Q3: Is there a positive relationship between the level of participation in an online community and the loyalty of the members
©Copyright - Purple Spinnaker – Online Community Participation Model 2004

6. ONLINE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION MODEL – 2004
Table 1 - represents the findings form the research study.
Hypothesis Characteristics (variables) Community Duration of Hours in an online
Participation Membership community
H1 Member Characteristics & online experience No Effect
H2 Interest*, inclusivity, Personalisation, Expertise* Positive Effect
H2 Familiarity Positive
H2 Expertise* Positive
H2 Interest* Positive
H2 Inclusivity and familiarity Positive
H3 Member experience levels Positive
H3 Community Participation Levels Positive
* Expertise and Interest may be combined to create the Topical Variable
©Copyright - Purple Spinnaker – Online Community Participation Model 2004

7. ONLINE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION MODEL – 2013
Kingston Business School & Purple Spinnaker 2013 model
Characteristics Perceived
Outcomes
of Community Member Benefits
Shared
Functional
Consciousness Value
Self-discovery
Inclusivity Value
Interpersonal
Connectivity Participation
Topicality
Social
Enhancement
Entertainment
Customer expertise
Value
©Copyright - Purple Spinnaker – Online Community Participation Model 2013

8. NEXT STEPS
• Revised online survey to be run on a range of
online communities in March – May 2013.
• Results of surveys analysed June 2013.
• Research published summer 2013.
• Contact: julie@purplespinnaker.com to participate
in the research.
©Copyright - Purple Spinnaker – Online Community Participation Model 2013

9. ONLINE COMMUNITIES – WHY DO WE PARTICIPATE?
THANK YOU