An Experimental Investigation of the Influence of Virtual Community Characteristics on Consumers’ Evaluations of an Online Store
In this paper we report the findings of an experimental study contributing to the knowledge on consumer behavior in e-commerce. We examine the impact of different characteristics of an integrated virtual community (VC) within an online store on consumers’ evaluations of that store. An online experiment applying a professionally designed shopping website with inte-grated VC was conducted, using a non-forced exposure method. We show that the implementa-tion of a VC in a shopping website and, more specific the exertion of influence by the retailer, the quality and the sociability as key characteristics, highly influence consumers’ perception of the online store.
Citation:
Peter Domma, Hanna Schramm-Klein, and Joachim Zentes (2011) ,"An Experimental Investigation of the Influence of Virtual Community Characteristics on Consumers’ Evaluations of an Online Store", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Alan Bradshaw, Chris Hackley, and Pauline Maclaran, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 426-428.
Authors
Peter Domma, Institute for Commerce & International Marketing, Saarland University
Hanna Schramm-Klein, Chair for Marketing, University of Siegen
Joachim Zentes, Institute for Commerce & International Marketing, Saarland University
Volume
E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9 | 2011
Share Proceeding
Featured papers
See MoreFeatured
Perceptions of Disability in the Marketplace: Moral Character Inferences and Persuasion
Helen van der Sluis, Arizona State University, USA
Adriana Samper, Arizona State University, USA
Kirk Kristofferson, Ivey Business School
Featured
O4. Will Winning Always Encourage Risk Taking? The Effect of Competition Results and the Closeness of These Results
Beixi Wen, Renmin University of China
En-Chung Chang, Renmin University of China
Chunya Xie, Renmin University of China
Featured
H1. How Anthropomorphized Roles Influence Consumers' Attitude Towards Innovative Products
yuanqiong He, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Zhou Qi, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China