Virtual Communities in E-Commerce: The Case of Etsy Forums.

The cultural and creative industries are undergoing profound changes in the digital age. As the web 2.0 has given anyone the chance to share content online, a number of platforms have established themselves as intermediaries between potential cultural entrepreneurs and their audience. Although it is unclear if digital platforms for cultural and creative goods improve seller opportunities, their users congregate within them and ideas are shared, feedback is given, opinions are stated, tips are exchanged, and help is requested. This group of loosely connected individuals is united by a common interest which materialises on the platform, forming what is known as a virtual community. Discussions are generated within these online platforms. As help is given and recommendations are exchanged, knowledge collaboration takes place. Moreover, members of these virtual communities generate electronic word of mouth which reveals user preferences, perceptions and opportunities to improve the platform. This paper focusses on the online communities which have formed around an e-commerce platform for self-produced creative goods: Etsy. As well as giving sellers the opportunity to sell their artisanal goods to a wide pool of potential customers, it gives them the possibility to interact with one another in a selection of dedicated forums which cover a range of topics. The objectives of this study are threefold. Firstly, by seeking to outline how the interactions made by sellers in Etsy forums change from one given forum to another, it will be understood how different virtual communities form in relation to the topic addressed in the discussion board. Secondly, by harnessing the electronic word of mouth generated by users in the form of posts and the engagement metrics from answering sellers, the different perceptions and needs of Etsy sellers will be illustrated along with the preferences of those who participate in the forums. Finally, investigating the relationship between seller characteristics and their interactions on Etsy will determine how differing users engage with distinct forums, topics and sentiments. The intention is not only to outline how the virtual communities present in e-commerce platforms can be studied, but also how these may change between different discussion boards, how they reveal a distinct organisation, set of priorities, and needs. Added with the fact that participation in a given forum, topic or even interacting in a certain sentiment reflects a set of common user characteristics. To achieve this, one hundred entries were sampled across two forums which embody two distinct purposes: “Marketing Your Business” which is sales and marketing oriented and “Creative Process” which is focussed on artisanal production and the Etsy creative community. Results indicate divergence in overall sentiment and topics between both forums, with differing rates of engagement. Both discussion boards are shown to have their own specific interaction mechanisms and reveal diverging seller needs, preferences and priorities. Finally, a clear connection is drawn between seller characteristics and the type of forum that is consulted, along with the topic that is addressed, although less so with post sentiment. The method chosen for this inquiry is mainly comparative, although the final section of this paper engages in a cross-sectional analysis covering the whole sample.