in recent years, virtual communities have been significantly popular and almost all of them are targeted for business profitability. in our study, the profitability of these communities for businesses has been analyzed from a commercial perspective. the study considers virtual community as a business model which can have a great impact on consumer purchase decision process. with respect to refe...

Virtual communities are the uppermost communication spaces and channels for online word-of-mouth. And opinion leaders are the most important group for enterprises’ word-of-mouth communication. As enterprises are engaged in online word-of-mouth marketing activities, the key is to find out the opinion leaders in virtual communities. In this paper, after affirming the effects of opinion leaders an...

Virtual communities have been the focus of research for some time. However, although many studies have provided recommendations on how to build, extend, and manage virtual communities, few have verified the success factors they have considered essential for virtual communities. Conclusions made regarding basic preferences and distinct priorities of different stakeholders in virtual communities ...

This paper presents results of an empirical study regarding success factors of virtual communities of patients. These success factors capture what is important to members of virtual communities of patients and the interconnections between these aspects. We analyze the possible impact of success factors that we identify to the design and implementation of e-services as part of the business model...

Marketing professionals gradually utilize virtual communities as a new media for affecting sales by spreading information about brand, quality, price, experience, effectiveness, etc. Studies related to this subject usually focus on influence of electronic word of mouth and posters’ opinions on product choice. Lack of considering passive participants and natures of virtual community induces our ...

Social networking sites are used for both personal and professional interactions. Social apps thrive in the environment provided by social networking sites. Companies are focussing on this market space to promote their products and to identify new sources of revenue generation. The objective of our paper is to identify the factors for purchase decision and word of mouth of virtual and digital g...

This study investigates the determinants and effects of virtual communities on the development of social relationships within the social network of cancer patients. Influencing factors on the formation of virtual relationships and their effect in the form of social assistance are researched. Following an explorative approach it is examined whether online communities meet their theoretical poten...

Despite the importance of analysing virtual reality (VR) technology acceptance by older adults and investigating use this as a marketing tool to enhance destination tourism word mouth (WOM), no study seems have addressed these issues. Thus, explores how model (TAM) anxiety regarding VR after virtually visiting tourist influence adults’ intention reuse for tourism. Most importantly, examines whe...