Internet discussions as a source for consumer product customer involvement and quality information: an exploratory study

As quality management has become increasingly important, linking quality management efforts to customer wants and needs has also expanded. For consumer product manufacturers this has resulted in a need to develop more direct links to the customer. Anecdotal reports indicate that firms are beginning to tap into Internet discussions as a source for this type of information. For this exploratory study, the entire network of usenet groups was monitored for 1 year for messages containing the name of one company. The messages were analyzed and a detailed description of this type of information is provided to evaluate its potential for use in this manner and to provide the basis for research questions that may guide further efforts in theory development.