Isaksson, Jonna, and Stephanie Xavier. "Online communities: segments and buying behaviour profiles." (2009).

This thesis explores the segmentation of online community users by their buying behaviors to offer insights for marketers to tailor their campaigns effectively. With the evolution of the internet into a platform for real-time global interaction, online communities have become a vital space for market-oriented user engagement. By integrating Kozinets’ virtual communities of consumption and Barnes et al.'s typology of online buying behavior, the study seeks to understand if online community users can be classified based on their purchasing behaviors to benefit marketers. The research, employing a social constructionist methodology and an online questionnaire, found that while Kozinets' model identifies distinct online user profiles, all users generally fit into Barnes et al.'s broader clusters of online buying behavior, suggesting a new approach for marketers to engage with online communities.