Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Online communities serving the consumer/producer: observations from the study of a fantasy world

Online communities serving the consumer/producer: observations from the study of a fantasy world Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the main individual and collective strategies online communities employ to appropriate fantasy worlds and the ways in which community members use imagination within this context. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study drawing on an ethnography of online communities including individual in‐person interviews with community members of the world is considered. Findings – The predominance and the vital importance of the production/consumption of stories within these communities has been shown. The multiple benefits of this practice have been illustrated, including the pleasure of creating and playing with one's imagination. These benefits engender the surprise and enchantment of community members, who lavish other members with encouragement, congratulations and thanks. Research limitations/implications – Because of opting for a non‐participatory ethnography, it was impossible to directly contact the members of the community to conduct interviews. Thus a convenience sample was chosen representative of the study subject and individuals outside of these communities were questioned. Originality/value – The online community allows members to collectively and playfully participate in entertainment related to the fantasy world. It appears as an imaginary organization of the (entertainment) service provider. The members of this organization can take part in value coproduction and share the benefits of an extended entertainment service that sparks their imagination and allows them to enjoy the fruits of their creations. Given the fantasy world's power to fire the imagination of fantasy lovers, the paper demonstrates that it is important for leisure and entertainment service providers to consider adding a fantasy component to their service. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Direct Marketing An International Journal Emerald Publishing

Online communities serving the consumer/producer: observations from the study of a fantasy world

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/online-communities-serving-the-consumer-producer-observations-from-the-yEtAXfbTt5

References (63)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1750-5933
DOI
10.1108/17505930810931017
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the main individual and collective strategies online communities employ to appropriate fantasy worlds and the ways in which community members use imagination within this context. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study drawing on an ethnography of online communities including individual in‐person interviews with community members of the world is considered. Findings – The predominance and the vital importance of the production/consumption of stories within these communities has been shown. The multiple benefits of this practice have been illustrated, including the pleasure of creating and playing with one's imagination. These benefits engender the surprise and enchantment of community members, who lavish other members with encouragement, congratulations and thanks. Research limitations/implications – Because of opting for a non‐participatory ethnography, it was impossible to directly contact the members of the community to conduct interviews. Thus a convenience sample was chosen representative of the study subject and individuals outside of these communities were questioned. Originality/value – The online community allows members to collectively and playfully participate in entertainment related to the fantasy world. It appears as an imaginary organization of the (entertainment) service provider. The members of this organization can take part in value coproduction and share the benefits of an extended entertainment service that sparks their imagination and allows them to enjoy the fruits of their creations. Given the fantasy world's power to fire the imagination of fantasy lovers, the paper demonstrates that it is important for leisure and entertainment service providers to consider adding a fantasy component to their service.

Journal

Direct Marketing An International JournalEmerald Publishing

Published: Oct 17, 2008

Keywords: Internet; Consumer behaviour; Online operations; Imagination; Communities

There are no references for this article.