A Conceptual Framework to Define Incentive Mechanisms for Virtual Communities

Juliana de Melo Bezerra (Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, Brazil)

Celso Massaki Hirata (Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, Brazil)

Dave Randall (University of Siegen, Germany)

Abstract: Online incentive mechanisms constitute a strategy to stimulate members to participate and perform tasks in virtual communities. Given the diversity of variables and particularities that define virtual communities and their contexts, it is a challenge to identify and define incentives that are adequate to a given community. Our focus is on providing a systematic way to help designers to reason and develop their own analysis. We propose a conceptual framework to support the analysis of virtual communities, aiming to facilitate the definition of online incentive mechanisms. The framework is presented as a canvas with issues to be addressed through a set of questions, offering a visual and understandable guide. We evaluated the framework with a case study. We found that the framework satisfactorily supports designers in defining more complete and effective online incentive mechanisms.

Keywords: incentive mechanisms, motivation, participation, virtual communities

Categories: L.6.1, L.6.2