University of Twente Student Theses
“Marked as Solved?” : Identifying Characteristics that Promote Successful Problem-solving in User Support Forums
Marlindah Jozevel Adriaansz, Jozevel (2023) “Marked as Solved?” : Identifying Characteristics that Promote Successful Problem-solving in User Support Forums.
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| Abstract: | User support forums are an important customer support tool for companies providing complex products or services. Despite their importance for customer support, there is a lack of research in what causes forums to be successful or unsuccessful. Therefore, this study was aimed to identify thread characteristics and post characteristics and how they affect the success of a user support forum thread. 50 threads were collected in total from the Adobe XD Support Forum and the Figma Support Forum. The threads and posts were analysed using a codebook consisting of characteristics found in previous studies on virtual communities. The findings indicated that most successful threads are aimed to start a discussion, have an active small group of participants, few visible lead users, and a uniform opinion. However, successful threads also depend on the helpfulness of the post, but what makes a post helpful largely depends on the content of the post itself. This study presents implications for future research as it demonstrated using qualitative characteristics to study user support forums and the use of critical-thinking perspectives outside of virtual learning communities. Companies hosting user support forums should aim to moderate them to keep the threads from becoming too large and use forum design to encourage users to critically assess suggestions and provide comprehensive information. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Studies BSc (56615) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/95598 |
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