Forum manipulation: latest research

Very interesting paper in Management Science on the implications of business strategically manipulating consumer forums and communities. It’s really pretty technical but makes some insightful points.

One major gripe, though. When I first started reading, I thought the author was talking about shilling rather than brand-consumer engagement. In effect he seems to be calling all of this ‘manipulation’. For example, providing products for community users to trial is classed by the author as ‘manipulation’ which I totally don’t get and don’t subscribe to. If the trial is open and disclosed and participants not guided, I see ‘manipulation’ being too loaded a term. However, more covert, non-disclosed techniques which he also refers to (anon posting etc) I totally agree are ‘manipulative’ and not best practice for any business in this new era of social media. Read more below.

http://www.womma.org/content/newsletters/research/onlineopinionforums.pdf

Brought into the world on Friday, February 16th, 2007 and filed under Uncategorized.