Wireless Local Communities in Mobile Commerce

2009 ◽  
pp. 1780-1787
Author(s):  
Jun Sun
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Mobile Commerce ◽  
Handheld Devices ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Exchange Information ◽  
Special Information

In mobile commerce (m-commerce), consumers engage a ubiquitous computing environment that allows them to access and exchange information anywhere and anytime through wireless handheld devices (Lyttinen & Yoo, 2002). While consumers generally sit before personal computers to browse e-commerce websites through the Internet, they are free to move around while connected in m-commerce and can truly be called mobile consumers. Compared with stationary consumers in e-commerce, mobile consumers have special information needs regarding their changing environment. Consumers mainly access information through wireless portals in m-commerce. A lot of these portals provide mobile consumers information specific to where they are. For example, various location-based services have emerged to push information about what is available and occurring nearby to mobile consumers (Rao & Minakakis, 2003). Such wireless portal services overcome the difficulty of searching information with handheld devices, typically cell phones. However, pushing information to users based on where they are may annoy them, because this approach disregards the specific needs and interests of people in context and deprives their control over what they want to know (Barkhuus & Dey, 2003). In contrast to information pushed by product or service providers, consumers are likely to regard peer-to-peer reference groups as credible sources of product/service information and be open to their informational influence (Miniard & Cohen, 1983). For example, if consumers hear from others that nearby stores offer discounts on certain commodities, they may go to these stores to have a look for themselves. To capitalize on such business opportunities in m-commerce, this article proposes a community portal approach, a so-called wireless local community (WLC). As the name suggests, a WLC is a virtual community that allows mobile consumers in a functionallydefined area to exchange information about what is available and occurring nearby with each other through wireless handheld devices. By far, most virtual communities are built upon the infrastructure of the Internet and they refer to “… groups of people with common interests and needs who come together online… to share a sense of community with like-minded strangers, regardless of where they live” (Hagel & Armstrong, 1997, p.143). Like members in these online communities, WLC members must share something that they are interested in and need in common. Because WLC membership is geographically determined, WLC coverage areas must “supply” what can potentially meet the interests and needs of mobile consumers in them, and such areas may include: shopping plazas, tourist parks, and sports facilities, among others. These functionally-defined areas, which determine the scope, theme, and membership of WLCs, are the settings in which consumer behavior occurs and they constitute the supply contexts of local consumers. In this sense, WLCs are context-based virtual communities, in contrast to most on-line communities, which are generally topic-based. This article first outlines the macro-level conceptual design of the WLC approach and discusses its technical, operational, and economical feasibilities. The success of WLCs, like that of online communities, largely depends on how micro-level implementations can promote member participation and enhance member experience. Based on an understanding of how mobile consumers share contextual information through the mediation of WLCs, this article discusses specific implementation issues.

Wireless Local Communities in Mobile Commerce

2011 ◽  
pp. 1204-1209
Author(s):  
Jun Sun
Keyword(s):  
Ubiquitous Computing ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Mobile Commerce ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Handheld Devices ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Computing Environment ◽  
Ubiquitous Computing Environment ◽  
Exchange Information ◽  
Special Information

In mobile commerce (m-commerce), consumers engage a ubiquitous computing environment that allows them to access and exchange information anywhere and anytime through wireless handheld devices (Lyttinen & Yoo, 2002). While consumers generally sit before personal computers to browse e-commerce websites through the Internet, they are free to move around while connected in m-commerce and can truly be called mobile consumers. Compared with stationary consumers in e-commerce, mobile consumers have special information needs regarding their changing environment.

scholarly journals The Impact of Virtual Communities on Cultural Identity

Symposion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-22
Author(s):  
Radoslav Baltezarevic ◽  
Borivoje Baltezarevic ◽  
Piotr Kwiatek ◽  
Vesna Baltezarevic ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The emergence of the Internet and various forms of virtual communities has led to the impact of a new social space on individuals who frequently replace the real world with alternative forms of socializing. In virtual communities, new ‘friendships’ are easily accepted; however, how this acceptance influences cultural identity has not been investigated. Based on the data collected from 443 respondents in the Republic of Serbia, authors analyze this connexion, as well as how the absorption of others’ cultural values is reflected on the local cultural values. The results show that the adoption of others’ cultural values diminished the bond with the local community. The present paper adds to the theory of virtual communities by examining the relationship between the acceptance of an unknown person in a virtual community and its effects on cultural identity. This study contributes to the clarification of the impact that virtual networking has on cultural identity.

Defining "Virtual Community"

2008 ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Ridings
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come

The rise of the Internet has spawned the prolific use of the adjective “virtual.” Both the popular press and scholarly researchers have written about virtual work, virtual teams, virtual organizations, and virtual groups. But perhaps one of the most interesting phenomena to come to the forefront has been that of virtual communities. Many definitions of this term have been proposed and the term has been used in many different ways. This article will examine some of the most popular definitions and guidelines to understand what truly constitutes a virtual community. To define a virtual community, one needs to first examine the two words separately, particularly the sociological definition of “community.” The German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies, in his 1887 book, made the distinction between two basic types of social groups: Gemeinschaft (community) and Gesellschaft (society). The former was often exemplified by the family or neighborhood (Tonnies, 1957). Sociology literature also often refers to the definition given by George Hillery, who reviewed 94 different definitions in academic studies. Three elements were common to the definitions, namely that community (1) was based on geographic areas, (2) included social interaction among people, and (3) had common ties such as social life, norms, means, or ends (Hillery, 1955). Thus the term community typically connotes a group of people within some geographic boundary, such as a neighborhood, or perhaps smaller subsection of a larger city. Further specification might have defined a community as a group of people within the geographic boundary with a common interest, such as the Jewish community of Brooklyn or the physician community of London. Therefore, members of the community were drawn together by both local proximity and common interest, even if the interest was in the geographic area itself. The term virtual, precipitated by the advent of information technology, and specifically, the Internet, means without a physical place as a home (Handy, 1995), or that which is electronic or enabled by technology (Lee, Vogel, & Limayem, 2003). Information technology therefore has expanded the means by which the social interaction in communities can be accomplished. While for most of human existence interaction was strictly limited to the face-to-face medium, social interaction can now be accomplished virtually, thus eliminating the necessity of being physically close enough to communicate. This type of communication is called computer-mediated communication (CMC). Combining the two terms together, thus, would mean eliminating the geographic requirements and allowing that the social interaction would occur virtually, that is, via information technology, among people with common ties. In fact, people have been coming together in virtual communities on the Internet for over 25 years. Usenet newsgroups, started in 1979, are widely regarded as the first virtual communities on the Internet (M. A. Smith, 1999), and The Well (www.well.com), started in 1985, is often referred to as an early exemplar of virtual community (Rheingold, 1993). Virtual communities may be part of a long-term shift away from geographic ties to common interest ties (Wellman & Gulia, 1999b). Formal definitions and understandings of the term virtual community still remain problematic, however (Lee et al., 2003). Perhaps the most cited definition is that of Howard Rheingold, a prominent author, consultant, and member of The Well: Social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace. (Rheingold, 1993, p. 5) Common to many of the definitions is the presence of shared interests or goals (Dennis, Pootheri, & Natarajan, 1998; Figallo, 1998; Kilsheimer, 1997). With the advent of information technology, locating/contacting others outside the local community has become relatively easy, especially when one seeks others who have a unique or uncommon interest. It may be that technology makes it easier for communities to form. For example, it may be difficult for someone interested in traditional bowhunting to locate others with the same inclinations by popping into the local tavern or socializing at a church function. However, a simple search in Google reveals a vibrant community centered around such an interest (www.bowsite.com/). There are virtual communities for nearly every interest that comes to mind, from medical afflictions (e.g., breast cancer, Parkinson’s, Down’s syndrome) to hobbies (e.g., coin collecting, wine, saltwater aquariums) to professions (e.g., nursing, law, finance). Implicit with the notion of community is some permanence among members and frequency of visits by members (A. D. Smith, 1999). Virtual communities must have a sense of long-term interaction (Erickson, 1997), not a place where people go only occasionally or where there are always different people. It is not uncommon for people to develop strong attachments to virtual communities, visiting them often enough to be described as “addicted” (Hiltz, 1984; Hiltz & Wellman, 1997). The members often feel part of a larger social whole within a web of relationships with others (Figallo, 1998). Indeed, many researchers have considered virtual communities as social networks (Hiltz & Wellman, 1997; Wellman, 1996; Wellman & Gulia, 1999a). Ridings et al. (2002) offer a comprehensive definition that incorporates the afore-mentioned concepts: Groups of people with common interests and practices that communicate regularly and for some duration in an organized way over the Internet through a common location or mechanism. (p. 273)

Virtual Community and Online Game Players

2011 ◽  
pp. 1757-1763
Author(s):  
Jengchung V. Chen ◽  
Yu-Hsiang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technology ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Online Games ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Game Players

Since the Internet and other IT technologies have become more popular than ever before, the amount of time people spend with computers and IT products, such as Internet and online games, has increased tremendously. The continuing boom of information and communication technology is causing the Internet to become a part of everyone’s life. People use the Internet not only as a tool for their jobs, but also to participate in virtual communities. Even if the rate of Internet uptake slows considerably (Weisenbacher, 2002), the trend still remains growing. There were 275.5 million people using the Internet in February 2000. That number had changed to 605.60 million in September 2002 (Nua Ltd., 2002). According to Horrigan’s study (2001), 84 percent of Internet users in America have participated in a virtual community. Moreover, apart from the number of people using Internet, the average time spent doing any activity online is increasing.

Mobile Commerce Technology

2005 ◽  
pp. 1967-1972
Author(s):  
Chung-wei Lee ◽  
Wen-Chen Hu ◽  
Jyh-haw Yeh
Keyword(s):  
World Wide Web ◽  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
Mobile Networks ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Mobile Commerce ◽  
Handheld Devices ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Cellular Phones ◽  
Research Subject ◽  
The World

With the introduction of the World Wide Web, electronic commerce has revolutionized traditional commerce and boosted sales and exchanges of merchandise and information. Recently, the emergence of wireless and mobile networks has made possible the admission of electronic commerce to a new application and research subject—mobile commerce, which is defined as the exchange or buying and selling of commodities, services, or information on the Internet through the use of mobile handheld devices. With services provided by mobile commerce, consumers may use the microbrowsers on their cellular phones or PDAs to buy tickets, order meals, locate and book local hotel rooms, even write contracts on the move.

Virtual Community as New Marketing Channel

2011 ◽  
pp. 524-526
Author(s):  
Chingning Wang ◽  
Kangning Wei ◽  
Michelle L. Kaarst-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Marketing Channel ◽  
Social Events ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Bulletin Boards ◽  
Promotional Messages ◽  
Business Structure

Virtual community is a virtual meeting place where individuals with common areas of interests share information, ideas, experiences, and feelings (Rheingold, 1993) by using information and communication technology (ICT), especially the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW). It has been taken for granted that people with shared interests would aggregate together. This assumption is equally applicable to the virtual world. As such, a wide variety of discussion topics bring different Internet users together online across time and space. Virtual community has been a pervasive concept emphasizing social aggregation and social events in the computer-mediated environment. This concept has been extended to the horizon of commerce. Hagel and Armstrong (1997) contend in their book, Net Gain, that virtual community could be an important element of a successful Web-based business structure and that community-based business structure helps expand markets for businesses. Businesses have increasingly begun to recognize that they can build their brand images, deliver promotional messages, and retain consumers’ loyalty through online communities. As such, more and more businesses include bulletin boards, discussion groups, and e-mail functions in their business Web sites with the aim to creating a community atmosphere among their customers (Maclaran & Catterall, 2002). This strategy not only helps attract consumers but also helps increase return rate (Hagel, 1999). In the long run, it could promote favorable attitude toward the brand and increase purchasing behavior (Subramaniam, Shaw, & Gardner, 2000). Indeed, virtual communities have opened up new opportunities and established new models for business to reach out and communicate with their consumers. Although the market has become more and more fragmented with the globalization of commerce, virtual communities provide businesses with access to targeted consumers in that various aggregations of Internet users are like different segments of markets. Virtual community indeed has become a new marketing channel for business. Many online communities are business oriented in nature with business participating as organizers, sponsors, or advertisers.

Virtual Communities for Development

2011 ◽  
pp. 500-505
Author(s):  
Deidra Fryer ◽  
Eric Turner
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Mass Communications ◽  
Network Television ◽  
Communications Media ◽  
Late Night ◽  
Cable Networks

Americans, and to some extension, the greater world, appear to have an obsession with celebrity. We often find ourselves defined not by our deeds but by our relationship, either real or imagined, with famous people. Celebrity lives appear more appealing or real to us because we can see their lives up close and in ways we cannot see our own. Peter Howe (2005), in his book Paparazzi: And Our Obsession With Celebrity, examines the origins, ethics and our insatiable appetite for celebrity that keeps the paparazzi in such demand. With so many things competing for our attention, we often pursue the path of least resistance. We go to bed and wake up to the celebration of celebrity through mass communications media. The major network television morning news and late-night shows tend to focus only the first 10 minutes of broadcast, if any, on national and local affairs of society, and then quickly retreat to celebrity promotions or gossip. For dinnertime or early evening entertainment, the major networks are filled with such shows as Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood and Celebrity Justice. Cable networks and radio also serve as additional mass-media vehicles to further celebrate and promote celebrity. The Internet has become the newest vehicle to help feed this frenzy of celebrity pursuit. Thousands of virtual communities of interests have developed to help foster a sense of relationships to celebrities, feed these obsessions and escape from reality. Does Internet usage favor the development of new communities, virtual communities; or instead, is it inducing personal isolation, severing people’s ties with society and ultimately the real world? This article examines virtual communities from the perspective of the American obsession with celebrity, using as an example a Yahoo celebrity virtual community that has evolved over a period of four years.

Virtual Communities and Social Capital Theory

2011 ◽  
pp. 493-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Ridings
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Civic Group

Imagine a neighborhood where young children can play freely in the streets and various backyards without direct parental oversight, the implication being that other adults in the vicinity will watch out for the children. If a parent is late getting home before the school bus, the children know which neighbors’ house to go to and will be well cared for until the parent arrives home. The residents are very willing to help each other, perhaps by moving a sofa down to a basement or lending a ladder for a project. In such a neighborhood, the first place one turns to for recommendations for plumbers, dry cleaners, and preschools, or perhaps to borrow a tool, is each other. Perhaps one person has secured a job for a neighbor’s daughter, and another family has “paved the way” for their neighbor’s entry into a country club. If a person has a need for emotional support to deal with a personal crisis, she turns to a neighbor. Such a neighborhood can be said to have social capital—that resource that comes from relations between people that makes lives more productive and easier. Social capital is not only created from groups of people living in very close proximity, such as in a neighborhood. It might be created between people belonging to the same church or civic group, or perhaps between people who met at a hospital support group for a particular affliction, or people who are alumni of a particular university. These groups of people can be said to constitute communities, or gatherings of people who have common interests or ties. In the past, these communities tended also to be focused in a local geographic area. This article will examine social capital in the context on online communities. Online communities, like physically based communities such as church groups or neighborhoods, can also be said to produce social capital for their members. These virtual communities can create and foster social capital—and indeed, it may be social capital that draws and retains their members. The background of social capital theory will be examined and then applied in the virtual community context.

MOOS as Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 329-333
Author(s):  
Shannon Roper ◽  
Sharmila Pixy Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
Book Series ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Defined Culture

Many researchers have observed that the Internet has changed the concept of virtual communities (Barnes, 2001, 2003; Jones, 1995, 1998; Rheingold, 1993). A unique example of virtual communities is a MOO—a specialized interactive online community that is usually based on a work of fiction such as book series, theater or television (Bartle, 1990). MOOs share many of the features of multi-user dimensions (MUDs) in that both allow participants to create their own virtual worlds, but some researchers consider MOOs to be “more sophisticated” (Barnes, 2001, p. 94). In a MOO community, the participants or “players” create their own virtual communities—fantasy communities complete with world structures, interpersonal norms and social constructs. Individual participants create characters complete with environment, history and personality constructs. The characters interact and influence each other and their environments, just as do the members of real-world communities. The MOO discussed in this case study is based on acclaimed fantasy author Anne McCaffery’s book series set on the fictional world of “Pern.” The players on DragonWings1 MOO create and develop characters over long periods, often many years, leading to the establishment and creation of a strong MOO. In this article we provide a case study of the DragonWings MOO as a unique virtual community. Because the concept of virtual communities is evolving with the Internet, and no definitive understanding of virtual community or virtual culture yet exists, we have chosen to structure our analysis of DragonWings MOO around the classical anthropological definition of culture and community. A seminal definition of culture, first articulated by Tylor (1871), provides the springboard for a number of anthropological definitions widely used today. Building on Tylor, White (1959), a prominent cultural scholar, defined culture as “within human organisms, i.e., concepts, beliefs, emotions, attitudes; within processes of social interaction among human beings; and within natural objects” (p. 237). He also identified symbols as a primary defining characteristic of culture. White’s simple yet comprehensive definition yields clear criteria that lend themselves to our analysis of MOOs. At the broadest level, an application of the criteria provides support for the acceptance of the Internet as a distinct and unique culture. At a more particular level, they provide a convenient tool for the analysis of a MOO as a virtual community. In the remainder of this article, we will utilize the definition outlined above to demonstrate the features that make DragonWings MOO a unique example of a virtual community.

Information Navigation and Knowledge Discovery in Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 273-278
Author(s):  
Wenyuan Li ◽  
Kok-Leong Ong
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Discovery ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Media Technology ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Information Navigation

Over the past decade, advances in the Internet and media technology have literally brought people closer than ever before. It is interesting to note that traditional sociological definitions of a community have been outmoded, for community has extended far beyond the geographical boundaries that were held by traditional definitions (Wellman & Gulia, 1999). Virtual or online community was defined in such a context to describe various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Although virtual communities do not necessarily arise from the Internet, the overwhelming popularity of the Internet is one of the main reasons that virtual communities receive so much attention (Rheingold, 1999). The beginning of virtual communities is attributed to scientists who exchanged information and cooperatively conduct research during the 1970s. There are four needs of participants in a virtual community: member interest, social interaction, imagination, and transaction (Hagel & Armstrong, 1997). The first two focus more on the information exchange and knowledge discovery; the imagination is for entertainment; and the transaction is for commerce strategy. In this article, we investigate the function of information exchange and knowledge discovery in virtual communities. There are two important inherent properties embedded in virtual communities (Wellman, 2001):

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