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Promoting the early-adopter feedback process using a firm-initiated online community

There are many online communities in Korea. An online community is a group of people that primarily interact via the Internet rather than face-to-face. Many firms are using online communities for communicating with users. The research question we attempt to answer is how online communities can be utilized throughout the NPD process, especially by using an early adopter feedback system. We investigate three leading MP3 player manufacturers in Korea. The number of people in these communities is over 100,000. They use various methods of promoting communication with users. This community can help retrieve valuable insight on customer needs, effective characteristics for new products, and trends for future development. These communities can also provide an effective method of communicating with early adopters. Using an online community is the most effective and efficient way of hearing customers' voices, thereby elucidating the strong and weak points of new products. In addition, communication activities could instill brand loyalty between firm and customers. Making an online community more active is the main challenge of firms that intend to use one. High-quality products, an effective strategy for attracting early adopters, and top management support for online communities are factors that determine the success of growing online communities. We also suggest a theoretical framework for online community development and an early-adopter feedback facilitation process.