External Viewpoint: The Best Practices to Build an International B2C Online Brand Community
Korpilaakso, Markus (2021)
Korpilaakso, Markus
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202101151279
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202101151279
Tiivistelmä
This Bachelor's thesis is a research-based study on the best practices to build an international B2C online brand community. The study is conducted by reviewing recent literature on the topic, interviewing business professionals, and comparing successful online brand communities. The aim of the thesis was to provide a comprehensive view to online community management and identify the most essential practices utilised in B2C online brand communities.
The thesis begins with overviewing the relevance of topic, theoretical models and essential background information about online brand communities. The theoretical part is followed by literature review that covers the current practices employed in online brand communities. The sources included books, publications, and articles written by authors with high international credibility in the field of the topic. The findings from literature review indicated central themes that were further implemented to investigative questions.
The research process consists two qualitative phases with deductive approach: semi-structured interviews and comparative case study. Semi-structured interviews discuss online brand communities from the perspective of three theoretically-deduced themes and key practices employed in online brand communities. The interviewees were carefully selected by using purposive sampling method. All interviewees have work experience in managing international B2C online brand communities with large member bases.
Lastly, the comparative case study inspects three well-known and thriving B2C online brand communities based on the analysed data from semi-structured interviews. The study discovers what are the similarities, differences, and noticeable patterns between the communities. The comparative case study works as a supportive research phase to confirm some of the prior findings and find contextual differences.
The study outcomes showed that successful international B2C online brand communities share several common practices. Most importantly, the results stressed the importance of customer-centric perspective in online community management. Online brand communities should focus on catering members’ needs in a fundamental way by listening to members, encouraging them for meaningful interaction and providing exciting and relevant content regularly. The practices employed in the online brand community must serve community’s purpose. Moreover, the study discovered that the involvement of gamification to acknowledge members with intangible rewards contributes positively to sense of community and community participation. Also, allowing members to participate in influential activity to collectively create value in terms of finding solutions or developing products is beneficial not only as members feel more important but also it creates more trust to the brand.
The thesis begins with overviewing the relevance of topic, theoretical models and essential background information about online brand communities. The theoretical part is followed by literature review that covers the current practices employed in online brand communities. The sources included books, publications, and articles written by authors with high international credibility in the field of the topic. The findings from literature review indicated central themes that were further implemented to investigative questions.
The research process consists two qualitative phases with deductive approach: semi-structured interviews and comparative case study. Semi-structured interviews discuss online brand communities from the perspective of three theoretically-deduced themes and key practices employed in online brand communities. The interviewees were carefully selected by using purposive sampling method. All interviewees have work experience in managing international B2C online brand communities with large member bases.
Lastly, the comparative case study inspects three well-known and thriving B2C online brand communities based on the analysed data from semi-structured interviews. The study discovers what are the similarities, differences, and noticeable patterns between the communities. The comparative case study works as a supportive research phase to confirm some of the prior findings and find contextual differences.
The study outcomes showed that successful international B2C online brand communities share several common practices. Most importantly, the results stressed the importance of customer-centric perspective in online community management. Online brand communities should focus on catering members’ needs in a fundamental way by listening to members, encouraging them for meaningful interaction and providing exciting and relevant content regularly. The practices employed in the online brand community must serve community’s purpose. Moreover, the study discovered that the involvement of gamification to acknowledge members with intangible rewards contributes positively to sense of community and community participation. Also, allowing members to participate in influential activity to collectively create value in terms of finding solutions or developing products is beneficial not only as members feel more important but also it creates more trust to the brand.