Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Functional needs include transactions (buying and selling between members), information
gathering and entertainment or convenience of access to information limited by time and
geographical limits; social needs include relationship and interactivity among members
and communication; and psychological needs refer to the need for identifi cation, involvement,
unity/belonging and relatedness. Wang
et al
. (2002) point out that a successful community must
meet multiple needs of the member.
However, the focus of these needs may differ based on the purpose of the community and
member characteristics. Their work confi rmed that proper development and management of an
online community based on the members' needs can enhance customer relationships and
promote understanding of consumer behaviour in achieving the goals of relationship marketing.
Tracking how consumers make use of the community and understanding the drivers and effects
of their participation are crucial to the cultivation of the community as a marketing tool (de
Valck, Bruggen and Wierenga 2009: 96-7). Likewise, fi rms with an intention to establish
communities for their own brands should design in accordance to consumers' needs, and their
expectations of joining and actively participating in the community to maximize this strategy in
reaching out to their consumers.
User groups within a virtual community have also been identifi ed as crucial for their
marketing implications. For example, de Valck, Bruggen and Wierenga (2009) identifi ed fi ve
member types according to participation patterns and background variables:
1 core members (frequent visitors who make extensive use of the community's knowledge as
well as add to that knowledge, actively participate in forum discussion and chats);
2 hobbyists (users with low level of information retrieved and supplied and low level of
participation but engaging in updating and maintain personal page and playing around with
techniques in the website);
3 conversationalists (users who have frequent and short visits to the site but a high degree of
participation in supplying and discussing information);
4 functionalists (users who have fewer and shorter visits but high level and profound interest
in retrieving information);
5 informationalists (users who have less frequent visits, more time online, low participation in
forum and chats but high level in retrieving and supplying information); and
6 opportunists (least frequent visitors and less time online, no participation in forum and chats
and only focus is retrieving information).
According to the authors, these user groups will allow marketers to distinguish the community's
true infl uentials from other contributors to the community's content and who are really
interested in increasing their knowledge about the community's topic of interest apart from
those lurkers that pass by without a real motivation to do so. This can inform the fi rm on whom
to target or pay attention to among its members and to whom it should direct its marketing
communications. Firms have to recognize that not all content is of high quality and that
community members contribute differently. Hence, the traditional approach of targeting specifi c
members who produce quality content would be more effi cient and effective for gathering
insights on their behaviour.
Virtual travel communities
The travel industry, one of the fi rst industries to go online, has long recognized the potential of
virtual travel communities (VTCs) for destination and production promotion (Stepchenkova,
