“The virtual products of social networks on the Internet and their impacts”
Importance
If you search the Top 20 websites in USA and in Taiwan, you will discover the most part of them are social network websites including Myspace, thefacebook, Youtube, Craiglist and Wikipedia etc. The data reveal that social networks become the mainstream idea of websites right now. Moreover, the virtual products of social networks on the Internet change our shopping habits thoroughly (For example, users on the facebook can buy virtual cakes to their friend even though the cakes do not exist in the real world. ) and I think they are very potential in the future so I will focus on them.
Past
In the past, people usually use “exchange” or “face to face” to buy some stuff because to see is to believe. Moreover, the price of traditional products is always decided by profits and costs. However, everything is changing today.
Current
First of all, I will introduce some famous social network websites how to work their marketing of virtual products and how they still keep their advantages against other competitors. The most important thing is to see how these websites and virtual products change peoples’ shopping habits leisurely. At meantime, I will focus on the impact of social network business on our daily lives and habits right now.
Future
How many users and buyers of virtual products in the social network websites will be in the future? Social network websites thrive in the present, but there are many these kinds of websites which can not find a pattern to make profit from their flows and members. Therefore, what can the websites do to make money from virtual products in the future? Moreover, how can we accelerate the growth of these internet business communities, minimize risk, and increase customers’ loyalty? Which kinds of virtual products will be the most worthy? Last but not least, what’s the impact of virtual business on our future lives? They will lead us to spend less money and have more convenient lives or spend more money on unnecessary virtual items?
Theory
I believe the consumer behavior theory, viral marketing(word of mouth), gratification theory and the long tail theory will support my claims.
I will use these theories to explain customers’ shopping habits and predict what they will do in the future. It is very important to analyze these theories because every step of marketing and profit pattern depend on the consumer behavior. Therefore, when we discuss this topic of term project deeply, we have to take these theories into consideration and then find the future and impacts of social network marketing.
For the long tail theory, the consumers and users on the social network always want to express their distinguishing characteristics so this situation leads many kinds of unique commodities can sale for a long term, instead of traditional sales theory-「80/20」.
An annotated list
1. Glushko B (2007). Tales of the (Virtual) City: Governing Property Disputes In Virtual Worlds. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 22(1), 507-532. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1286002941).
It described that virtual worlds have developed into a serious economic force and economists have estimated that the total gross domestic product of virtual worlds exceeded seven billion dollars this year alone. It also predicted problems of the virtual world and virtual products in the future.
2. Schultz D (2007). Social Call. Marketing Management, 16(4), 10-11. Retrieved October 16, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1314361691).
It describes the phenomena found in participatory and self-expressive Web sites – such as YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and the marketers create a social network that was accepted and that engaged people to purchase or continue to purchase products or services. It will help me to describe the consumer behavior in the social networking and how the marketing of social networking on the Internet works.
3. Chowdhury D, Chakraborty B. (2005). Viral Marketing: New form of Word-of-Mouth through Internet. The Business Review, Cambridge, 3(2), 69-75. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1023778451).
Viral marketing, is an electronically extended version of what is generally regarded to be one of the oldest forms of influence on a person’s decision to buy a product or service, traditionally known as Word of Mouth. It can help me to describe how the word of mouth can affect consumer behavior to buy virtual products.
4. Marie J (1993) Uses and gratifications theory to predict seniors’ use of an electronic community. Ed.D. dissertation, University of San Francisco, United States — California. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from ProQuest Digital Dissertations database. (Publication No. AAT 9413198).
The study examined the applicability of the uses and gratifications paradigm to predict level of older adult participation in a modern electronic communication mode and it tested the hypothesis that a needs gratification model explains senior citizens’ social networking behaviors.
5. Alkemade F, Castaldi C. (2005). Strategies for the Diffusion of Innovations on Social Networks. Computational Economics, 25(1-2), 3-23. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 883067591).
It investigated the spread of innovations on social networks and the author thought that consumers decide whether or not to buy products based on their own preferences and the decisions of their neighbors in the social network. It is relative to my project because we can find an innovations on social networking such as virtual products by analyzing the consumers’ behavior and preference.
Hi, Yi-Jen:
Your topic scope is becoming more manageable! However, the past remains very broadly defined. Social networks as markets is probably your future, not your present. Buying virtual products (your example) is more common in Asia than in the U.S., so you might want to focus the paper by looking at Asian markets — or perhaps contrast Asian markets with US markets.
For the final annotated bibliography, remember to present the sources in alphabetical order by the last name of the author. Your citations show a sound basis for your future paper but less clarity on the past/present.