This document discusses building the right online consumer community platforms. It begins with an overview of the research background and intent, which is to take a bottom-up approach understanding how individuals form communities from sociology and how producers relate to consumers from marketing. The document then outlines several research questions about user personas in online communities, gaps that cause users to leave, and the lifecycle and drop rates of users. The vision of the research is to facilitate online communities of practice that minimize costs while maximizing trust, reputation, and fun.

4. Building the “Right” Online Consumer Community Platforms Prashant Saxena, Doctoral Student Marketing, Year - 1 National University of Singapore

5. INTENT & AGENDA (BOTTOM-UP APPROACH) SOCIOLOGY : INDIVIDUAL  COMMUNITIES MARKETING : PRODUCER  CONSUMER INFORMATION MANAGEMENT : KNOWLEDGE MANGEMENT BOP OPPORTUNITY COMMUNICATION : SUB CULTURE  POPULAR CULTURE

6. RESEARCH OVERVIEW

7. RESEARCH BACKGROUND COMMUNICATION PATTERN Producer Consumer Year : 1920 ++ Consumer Producer Year : 1969 ++ Year : 2000 ++

8. RESEARCH BACKGROUND

9. RESEARCH BACKGROUND

10. RESEARCH BACKGROUND Consumer Black Box Processing Centre Customer Decision – Product, Brand Choice, Dealer Choice, Purchase Timings Web Experience (Controllable) - Website Usability, Interactivity, Trust, Aesthetics, Online Marketing Mix + Web 2.0 Experience (Uncontrollable) – Weblogs, Social Networks, Podcasts, Communities, Forums, etc

11. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

12. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Inbound – New users investing in community Peripheral – Users showing unstructured participation Insider – Users with committed participation 10% drop rate 90% drop rate Gap of trusting each other, Gap of belonging Gap of commitment to community 90% drop rate Outbound – Users on their way to form bigger communities Leader – Encouraging/ sustaining participation Gap of sharing experiences, Gap of low fame & reputation Gap of self actualization & Community leadership ONLINE COMMUNITY PLATFROMS – USER PERSONA, GAPS, LIFECYCLE & DROP RATE

13. RESEARCH VISION

14. RESEARCH VISION Facilitated Online minimizing distance & time costs Public Community of Practice Trust Reputation Fun

15. RESEARCH VISION Current Engagements – Utopia in Virtual Community, Transmedia Storytelling & Social Media