Draw to Participate in Virtual Communities

Abstract

Over the last decade, the Internet has emerged as an important channel for marketing products and/or services to consumers around the world. Interactive Web sites, advertising submitted to search engines, mass e-mailings, and a broad range of other innovative virtual-based marketing techniques are utilized to build interest in an organization’s current and/or future offering(s). Similarly, individuals use the Internet to seek out information, to buy and sell products/services, and to communicate with their friends, relatives and associates. Throughout the complex matrix that forms current Internet communications, an enormous number of “gathering spots” have developed in recent years where individuals and organizations, alike, can share common interests and meet differentiated user needs and wants. These “gathering spots” are called virtual communities.