Association for Information Systems Conference, August 7 - 9, 2014

Details

Track Chairs:

Brian Mennecke, Iowa State University,  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, Missouri University of Science and Technology,  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Shu Schiller, Wright State University,  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Track Description:

The goal of the Virtual Communities and Virtual Worlds track is to further existing knowledge and understanding of virtual communities and virtual worlds, and offer implications for research and practice.  Virtual communities are collective groups of individuals who utilize computer-mediated environments to interact and pursue mutual goals.  A virtual world is a computer-generated three-dimensional space where users interact with one another and with objects in the environment through their avatars.  Virtual communities and virtual worlds are growing in importance and are used for various purposes – from information sharing to collective decision-making to collaborative work in both business and educational contexts.  This track aims to extend our understanding of virtual communities and virtual worlds to enhance the theoretical foundation for future research and to provide guidance to practitioners.

Mini-Tracks:

Virtual Education and Training

Eschenbrenner, Brenda, University of Nebraska at Kearney, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Keng Siau
Xiaofeng Chen

Virtual environments, such as virtual reality and virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life), can provide new approaches and opportunities for education and training. Activities can become more learner-centered through instant feedback as well as enhancements in adaptability and customization. Education and training can be more readily accessible and available to learners who are geographical dispersed. Virtual technologies can provide platforms to simulate elements of the physical world to enhance the learning experience. A virtual environment lends itself to providing interactive experiences such that hands-on learning activities can be conducted and a constructive learning approach taken. Also, the essence of a shared space in virtual communities opens up new avenues for collaborative and social learning. Educators and organizations are expanding their traditional approaches to training, learning, and knowledge transfer to capitalize on the new opportunities and the unique aspects that are associated with virtual education and training.

Customer Engagement in Virtual Communities and Virtual Worlds

Christy Cheung, Hong Kong Baptist University, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." target="_blank">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Bo Sophia Xiao
Chee-Wee Tan
Zach W. Y. LeeThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." target="_blank">

The rise of new media channels during the last few years has changed the way consumers communicate and exchange information. Most major companies now build virtual communities and virtual worlds on blogs, Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter, Second Life, and the like in an attempt to manage customer relationships through consumer engagement and participation in these online social platforms. Customers can easily communicate their opinions, exchange product information, and rate companies and their offerings on online product-review communities. They can freely join their favorite online brand communities and engage in the communities through dynamic communication processes (e.g., providing comments on pictures and videos related to the brand or company). Consumers can even be involved in product development as developers solicit input from customers on blogs and virtual worlds. These behavioral expressions by customers reflect their engagement in virtual communities and virtual worlds.

Virtual Crowdsourcing Communities

Jan Marco Leimeister, Kassel University,
Balaji Rajagopalan
Ulrich Bretschneider
Ivo Blohm

Virtual Crowdsourcing Communities (VCC) have emerged as high activity domains on the Internet. VCC are designed for a variety of purposes, ranging from VCC for Creation (Wikipedia), for Work (odesk), or for Funding (Sell-a-Band). The significance of these communities is evident by the impact they have on information and content generation. For example, today, Wikipedia is quickly becoming a primary source of information in a variety of domains.

Crowdsourcing is also becoming more and more attractive for firms. By practicing Crowdsourcing firms tend to get access to services, ideas, or content from a large group of people via VCC. For example, firms source the generation of innovations or the work on tasks through VCC as the examples of Dell’s Ideastorm or Amazon’s Mechanical Turk illustrate.

IS researchers are interested in studying interaction patterns and the operational mechanisms of VCC as well as design aspects of information systems for VCC.

Social and Business Value of Virtual Communities in Virtual Worlds

Vikas Jain, University of Tampa, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Vishal Midha

The 3D and interactive web environment of virtual worlds is generating noteworthy interest among individuals and businesses alike. Some virtual worlds provide high tech gaming options while some others offer interactive classes, dances, and club memberships. Beyond the entertainment and game play features, virtual worlds are also evolving towards business needs, such as recruiting for potential employees or conduct economic transactions. Some of these virtual worlds are even beginning to incorporate real-world goods and services, interactive shopping, customer support, and education. Businesses and people are increasingly participating in virtual communities and sharing content, creating social and business opportunities.

The objective of this mini-track is to provide a forum for discussion and presentation of original research highlighting value and opportunities associated with virtual communities. We seek papers that address value proposition of virtual communities within virtual worlds from a theoretical, conceptual, or empirical perspective. Both quantitative and qualitative studies on virtual communities are welcome.