From studying communities to focusing on temporary collectives: research-in-progress on Web 2.0 in the travel sector

In this research-in-progress paper, we suggest that methodology is lagging behind innovation in the Web 2.0 environment. While prior art on virtual communities (VC) provides some helpful coordinates for our study of User-Generated Content (UCG) sites in the travel sector, there are some important conceptual differences between these phenomena that raise methodological challenges. To illustrate this, we identify the dominant methodological approaches in the VC literature and consider their value for studying UGC. Having noted key differences between the virtual community ethnographic tradition and the mainly quantitative UGC literature, we examine the potential of integrating different streams of methods in Web 2.0 studies. We suggest that exploring a broader range of options during the research design process presents opportunities for IS scholars to advance studies of social media such as User-Generated Content and increases our capacity to make significant contributions during this important period of their development.

[1]  Sumeet Gupta,et al.  Virtual Community: Concepts, Implications, and Future Research Directions; tables fit onto one page , 2004, AMCIS.

[2]  P. Resnick,et al.  The value of reputation on eBay: A controlled experiment , 2006 .

[3]  Chrysanthos Dellarocas,et al.  Self-Interest, Reciprocity, and Participation in Online Reputation Systems , 2004 .

[4]  D. Hymes.  Introduction: Toward Ethnographies of Communication1 , 1964 .

[5]  Bruce Bimber,et al.  The Internet and Political Transformation: Populism, Community, and Accelerated Pluralism , 1998, Polity.

[6]  P. Atkinson,et al.  Making sense of qualitative data , 1996 .

[7]  M. Castells.  The Network Society , 2004 .

[8]  Nicholas W. Jankowski,et al.  Epilogue : methodological concerns and innovations in internet research , 2005 .

[9]  P. Howard,et al.  Network ethnography and the hypermedia organization : new organizations , new media , new methods , 2001 .

[10]  Chrysanthos Dellarocas,et al.  The Digitization of Word-of-Mouth: Promise and Challenges of Online Feedback Mechanisms , 2003, Manag. Sci..

[11]  Jennifer Preece,et al.  Online Communities: Design, Theory, and Practice , 2005, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[12]  Dimitrina S. Dimitrova,et al.  Computer Networks as Social Networks: Collaborative Work, Telework, and Virtual Community , 1996 .

[13]  J. Hagel,et al.  The Real Value of Online Communities , 2000 .

[14]  Elsevier Sdol.  International Journal of Human-Computer Studies , 2009 .

[15]  D. Hymes.  Introduction: Toward Ethnographies of Communication , 2008 .

[16]  Andrew J. Czaplewski,et al.  eWOM: The impact of customer-to-customer online know-how exchange on customer value and loyalty , 2006 .

[17]  Luciano Paccagnella,et al.  Getting the Seats of Your Pants Dirty: Strategies for Ethnographic Research on Virtual Communities , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[18]  Katarina Stanoevska-Slabeva,et al.  Toward a Community-Oriented Design of Internet Platforms , 2002, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[19]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Book Reviews : Online Communities: A Case Study of the Office of the Future , 1984 .

[20]  F. Rothaermel,et al.  Virtual internet communities and commercial success: individual and community-level theory grounded in the atypical case of TimeZone.com , 2001 .

[21]  Jennifer Preece,et al.  Electronic Survey Methodology: A Case Study in Reaching Hard-to-Involve Internet Users , 2003, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact..

[22]  Ramón Compañó,et al.  Grasping the potential of online social networks for foresight , 2007 .

[23]  P. Atkinson,et al.  Making Sense of Qualitative Data: Complementary Research Strategies , 1996 .

[24]  B. Wellman.  Computer Networks As Social Networks , 2001, Science.

[25]  F. Buttle.  Word of mouth: understanding and managing referral marketing , 1998 .

[26]  B. Wellman.  Structural analysis: From method and metaphor to theory and substance. , 1988 .

[27]  J. Wooders,et al.  Reputation in Auctions: Theory, and Evidence from Ebay , 2006 .

[28]  Andreas Wittel,et al.  Ethnography on the Move: From Field to Net to Internet , 2000 .

[29]  U. Lechner,et al.  “ Virtual Communities with a Mission ” in the Health Care Sector , 2004 .

[30]  B. Wellman,et al.  Studying On-Line Social Networks , 1999 .

[31]  C. Hine,et al.  Virtual Methods : Issues in Social Research on the Internet , 2007 .

[32]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[33]  S. R. Hiltz.  Online communities , 1983 .

[34]  Dwayne D. Gremler,et al.  Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet? , 2004 .

[35]  Yochai Benkler,et al.  The wealth of networks: how social production transforms markets and freedom , 2006 .

[36]  Jennifer Preece,et al.  A framework for analyzing and understanding online communities , 2004, Interact. Comput..

[37]  Hazel Hall,et al.  Organizational knowledge and communities of practice , 2005, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[38]  Jennifer Preece,et al.  Sociability and usability in online communities: Determining and measuring success , 2001, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[39]  Jonathan Lazar,et al.  Classification Schema for Online Communities , 1998 .

[40]  Pavel Curtis,et al.  Mudding: Social phenomena in text-based virtual realities. , 1997 .

[41]  Stanley Wasserman,et al.  Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications , 1994, Structural analysis in the social sciences.

[42]  R. Breiger.  The Duality of Persons and Groups , 1974 .

[43]  W. Kim,et al.  Effects of an online virtual community on customer loyalty and travel product purchases. , 2004 .

[44]  Kerimcan Ozcan,et al.  Consumer -to -consumer interactions in a networked society: Word -of -mouth theory, consumer experiences, and network dynamics. , 2004 .

[45]  N. Pliskin,et al.  Virtual communities and society: Toward an integrative three phase model , 1997 .

[46]  Peter H. Reingen,et al.  Social Ties and Word-of-Mouth Referral Behavior , 1987 .

[47]  M. McLure Wasko,et al.  "It is what one does": why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[48]  D. Hindman.  The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier , 1996 .

[49]  David Gefen,et al.  Some antecedents and effects of trust in virtual communities , 2002, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[50]  D. Fesenmaier,et al.  Towards understanding members’ general participation in and active contribution to an online travel community , 2004 .

[51]  Thomas R. Lindlof,et al.  Media Ethnography in Virtual Space: Strategies, Limits, and Possibilities , 1998 .

[52]  Joseph D. Straubhaar,et al.  Ethnomethodology and the Study of Online Communities: Exploring the Cyber Streets , 1998, Inf. Res..

[53]  Eszter Hargittai,et al.  Open portals or closed gates? Channeling Content on the World Wide Web , 2000 .

[54]  S. D. Berkowitz,et al.  Social Structures: A Network Approach , 1989 .

[55]  Ana Cristina Vasconcelos,et al.  Community and virtual community , 2005, Annu. Rev. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[56]  John Scott.  What is social network analysis , 2010 .

[57]  Ian Hosein,et al.  A Research Note on Capturing Technology: Toward Moments of Interest , 2002, Global and Organizational Discourse about Information Technology.

[58]  Ian Alexander,et al.  An introduction to qualitative research , 2000, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[59]  Stephen J. H. Yang,et al.  A social network-based system for supporting interactive collaboration in knowledge sharing over peer-to-peer network , 2008, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[60]  Mark S. Granovetter.  The Strength of Weak Ties , 1973, American Journal of Sociology.

[61]  M. Cooke,et al.  Web 2.0, Social Networks and the Future of Market Research , 2008 .

[62]  R. Rice,et al.  Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, and Interaction , 2002 .

[63]  Paul Resnick,et al.  Trust among strangers in internet transactions: Empirical analysis of eBay' s reputation system , 2002, The Economics of the Internet and E-commerce.

[64]  D. Fesenmaier,et al.  Defining the virtual tourist community: implications for tourism marketing , 2002 .

[65]  R. Kozinets.  The Field behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities , 2002 .

[66]  R. Rice,et al.  Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, and Interaction , 2002 .

[67]  Katie J. Ward,et al.  Cyber-ethnography and the emergence of the virtually new community , 1999, J. Inf. Technol..

[68]  K. Michael Haywood,et al.  Managing Word of Mouth Communications , 1989 .

[69]  Pierre Lévy,et al.  Collective Intelligence: Mankind's Emerging World in Cyberspace , 1997 .

[70]  Annette N. Markham,et al.  Life Online: Researching Real Experience in Virtual Space , 1998 .

[71]  Michael C. A. Borovicka,et al.  Developing an Online Business Community: A Travel Industry Case Study , 2006, Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'06).

[72]  A. Holliday.  Doing and Writing Qualitative Research , 2001 .

[73]  S. Schneider,et al.  Web Sphere Analysis : An Approach to Studying Online Action Forthcoming in Virtual Methods : Issues in Social Science Research on the Internet , , 2004 .

[74]  B. Pan,et al.  A retrospective view of electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management , 2017 .

[75]  Vijay Mahajan,et al.  The Economic Leverage of the Virtual Community , 2001, Int. J. Electron. Commer..