Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Krieger, Bernhard
Author-Name: Müller, Philipp
Author-workplace-name: MERIT 
Title: Mind the Gap - Building Profitable Community Based Businesses on the Internet
Abstract: Building Internet communities will become a strategic tool both as a stand-alone model and as a supplement to sustain competitive advantage for "normal" businesses. Community based business models aim to profit from the value, which is created when Internet communities solve problems of collective action, by controlling access, aggregating data, or realizing side-payments. The current literature on community based business models refers to rational choices by individuals to explain why members join and leave Internet communities. However, such an approach cannot sufficiently conceptualize communities because communities are essentially imagined by their members. We offer metaphors to conceptualize the legitimation and reproduction of communities. In order to profit from the value that is generated by communities'' business, strategists must position it in its competitive environment. With the metaphorical approach we develop a framework to build profitable Internet communities.
Keywords: economics of technology ; 
Series: Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 2001
Number: 012
File-URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/rmpdf/2001/rm2001-012.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 102776
Handle: RePEc:unm:umamer:2001012