Interaction Dynamics in an Online Community: a Longitudinal Analysis of Communication Genres

The growth of online communities has created borderless and virtual spaces where geographically dispersed consumers can participate in informational and commercial exchanges. While the importance of these communities is undeniable, consumer researchers, public policy makers and marketers do not have a full understanding of the relationship dynamics in these communities. This article departs from traditional life-cycle community development models, by using rhetorical genres repertoire as an analytic apparatus for investigating online communities' dynamics. In this nethnography, we analyzed the discourse of bulletin boards hosted at BabyCenter.com. Our findings show how periods in the life of a community correspond with changes in the nature and expression of specific communicative genres, themselves a consequence of members' contrasting struggle between community involvement and personal independence. [to cite]

How Do You Categorize Yourself as a Sports Fan?: A New Scale of Sports Fan Social–Personal Identity Salience (FSPIS) and Its Consequences

Based on social identity, self-categorization, and optimal distinctiveness theories, this article argues that fans of team sports clubs (TSCs) may position themselves as members of their TSCs or as unique, individual sports fans. To date, no published, validated instrument has been designed to measure differences in sports fans’ personal and social identity orientation. We conducted three studies to test the validity and reliability of the Fan Social–Personal Identity Salience (FSPIS) scale. In the first two, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. The third study used a structural equation model to test the consequences of the new scale in an extension of the test of its nomological network validity. The data for the current research was collected using three distinct and separate empirical surveys of professional basketball fans in Israel. Our findings show that there is a moderate correlation between social and personal identities, indicating that a low level of social identity is not the same as personal identity. The FSPIS scale predicted fan optimism and satisfaction, which, in turn, partially mediated the effect on involvement. The uniqueness of the proposed scale is that it is a continuous scale that is able to capture mixed identity salience and variations in its magnitude. </jats:p

Peer-to-peer word-of-mouth: word-of-mouth extended to group online exchange

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how peer-to-peer word-of-mouth (PPWOM) conversations evolve over time because of the dynamic social nature of the community in which they take place. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzed PPWOM conversations in an online community website for new and expectant mothers. Two data collection phases were undertaken during a four-year period. In phase I, messages were collected for a one-month period from five different bulletin boards (i.e. cross-sectional data) and at two points in time (i.e. semi-longitudinal). In phase II, a full longitudinal study was conducted, and the complete text of all messages of a newly formed bulletin board was captured for a nine-month period. The corpus of messages was examined in line with the basic tools of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Findings This research developed a typology of PPWOM genres and showed that these genres change over the community lifespan. The findings confirmed that the levels of social cohesiveness and the interaction communicative motives are the main factors that distinguish different PPWOM genres. Research limitations/implications This research has offered a new perspective into the study of PPWOM, and hopefully it will serve as a starting point for a broader dialogue regarding the social context in which PPWOM is exchanged. Originality/value In contrast to traditional word-of-mouth research, this study demonstrated that PPWOM conversations go much beyond the exchange of functional information, and instead serve numerous social and emotional goals. </jats:sec

The positive and negative impacts of social and personal self-categorizations on sport fans' experience

PurposeThe current study postulated that fans' social identities (derived from the team sport clubs of which they perceive themselves to be members) coexist with their personal identities (derived from views of themselves as unique, individual sport fans). The study examined the relationship between identity salience and both positive and negative aspects of fans' attitudes, emotions and behaviours.Design/methodology/approachSeven hundred and twelve (712) Israeli professional football fans participated in this study. The study employed a survey drawn from an Internet panel with more than fifty thousand members.FindingsUtilizing structural equation modelling (SEM), the authors demonstrated that while social identity salience is related to positive aspects of being a sport fan (love of a favourite team and loyalty), it is also related to negative aspects of being a sport fan (hatred and perceptions of the appropriateness of fan aggression). Personal identity salience was found to be related to the decrease in negative outcomes of being a fan (hatred and perceptions of the appropriateness of fan aggression).Research limitations/implicationsMarketers and sport organizations will benefit from stimulating sport fans' personal identity salience to mitigate possible negative consequences of team affiliation.Originality/valueThe current study expands upon past sport management studies by demonstrating the existence of relationships between sport fans' identity salience and their emotions, attitudes and behaviours. The identity salience of fans is relevant from both academic and applicative perspectives.</jats:sec