Abstract
Web 2.0 thinking and technologies create a number of new opportunities to conduct research broadly
labeled as Research 2.0. Research 2.0 is a growing area of academic and commercial interest, which
includes research undertaken in online research communities. This research in progress paper
explores the practice of online research communities using a case study example operated by the
commercial market research company Virtual Surveys Limited (VSL) in the UK on behalf of their
client United Biscuits UK Ltd.
The preliminary findings are based on VSL and academics working together to improve the online
research community participants’ response rate and the quality of contributions. Data collected for
this study is based on meetings, participant observation, and a pilot survey of United Biscuits online
research community (snackrs.com) members.
Using the responses of 112 snackrs.com community members, a preliminary typology of motivational
factors is proposed. This can be used to refine the recruitment and development of activities in an
online research community. Also, a model for supporting online research communities to ensure
longitudinal engagement based on an adaptation of Salmon’s (2004) 5 Stage Model for e-moderation
is proposed, extending the 5 stages to 7 – adding the stages of selection and disengagement
Recommended Citation
Ferneley, Elaine; Heinze, Aleksej; and Child, Paul, "When standards is not enough to secure interoperability and competitiveness for European exporters" (2009). ECIS 2009 Proceedings. 159.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2009/159