1、http:/ Big Payoff from Online Company CommunitiesMembership engages customers, who spend more across the board.Title: Social Dollars: The Economic Impact of Customer Participation in a Firm-Sponsored Online CommunityAuthors: Puneet Manchanda, Grant Packard, and Adithya Pattabhiramaiah (all Universit
2、y of Michigan)Publisher: Ross School of Business Working PaperDate Published: January 2012Studies show that consumers are spending more of their leisure time online, and U.S. marketers are flocking to third-party social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to reach them. But companies as diverse as
3、 Amazon, B, Disney, IKEA, Kraft Foods, Lego, and Procter about 10 percent of its total revenues came from Internet purchases in 2009.The companys online community is similar to Facebooks members can manage a profile page that allows them to post personal and product-related messages, convey a sense
4、of their personality and interests, and display their status in the community. There are private and public discussion boards so users can establish friendly ties, start up special interest groups (for example, the “Vampire Movie Lovers Club”), and publish Top 10 lists or product reviews.http:/ auth
5、ors analyzed a random sample of more than 26,000 community members, about 10 percent of the total network of 260,000. They examined purchases made by members both online and in stores. They also analyzed community information, such as the date members joined, the friendships they established, and th
6、eir overall social behavior, including the volume and tenor of public and private discussions, recommendations, and product reviews.The firm also provided data from before the forums launch in September 2007, allowing the authors to create a “pre” period for comparison. A control group was establish
7、ed from customers who purchased at least once from the firm in the 30-month period being studied; some of these customers were loyalty card holders, so their transactions could be tracked both online and in stores.After controlling for several factors, the authors found that the quantity and quality
8、 of friendly relationships with other customers was key. Customers who had many friendly relationships, or who befriended more important or prominent customers, were likely to spend more on the firms products. Those who displayed more products on their profile page also tended to rack up purchases.I
9、t doesnt require many participants to earn a return on the investment of establishing an online community, the authors found. Based on the projected volume of social dollars taken in, and the costs and firm-level margins available in public financial statements, the authors conservative estimate is
10、that the firm broke even on its investment when 33,000 of its existing customers signed up.“Given that the firm acquired 260,000 members within the first fifteen months after community launch, this was clearly a very profitable investment for the firm,” the authors write, “especially as this number
11、is comprised of a mix of both current and newly-acquired customers.”Aside from the direct economic benefits of setting up the community, the firm has much to gain in other ways. For example, the data paints a clear picture of each customers preferences and behavior, the authors write, which is “an i
12、nformational boon for customer relationship management and other life-cycle based marketing strategies.”By monitoring which products are becoming more popular and identifying who is discussing them, marketers can optimize their promotional strategies. And the firm also disclosed to the authors that
13、the massive amount of user-generated content produced via the community strongly improves the companys position in major online search engines.“While it is likely that hosting customer communities on third-party websites such as Facebook provides reach to a broader audience,” the authors conclude, “
14、this strategy does not offer the same level of access and control over customer interaction management and data offered by a firm-sponsored social network, nor is the third-party community interaction data commonly available to the firm in a manner that can be easily linked to customer-level purchas
15、e behavior.”Bottom Line:Consumers who join a companys online community spend significantly more on the firms products than they did prior to signing up or in comparison with similar customers who are not part of the network. The findings indicate that online communities more than justify the investment to create and maintain them, and provide a unique way for companies to connect with customers and monitor their purchases and behavior.http:/
