Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Siwarit Pongsakornrungsilp
vans, rooms, swimming pools, staffs, atmosphere, etc., require operant resources like hospitality and
service management, <strong>the</strong> service skills, and team management etc., in order for <strong>the</strong>m to be used.
Therefore, operant resources are <strong>the</strong> crucial components <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> CLP that participants can employ to
interact with o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong> social network (Vargo and Lusch 2008). In <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r words, resources are
employed to produce benefits for both parties and also <strong>the</strong> network (Lusch, Vargo and Wessels
2008). In this way, members have participated in <strong>the</strong> social network by forming ‘a community <strong>of</strong>
practice’ (Lave and Wenger 1991) which share knowledge and learn as social groups. It helps to
unfold <strong>the</strong> operant and operand resources which each entity brings into <strong>the</strong> interaction process. In <strong>the</strong>
o<strong>the</strong>r word, network members have employed <strong>the</strong>ir resources into <strong>the</strong> CLP that <strong>the</strong>y can accumulate
resources (i.e. knowledge, experience, skills) from this social interaction process.
However, works in S-D logic have been criticized by Cova and Dalli (2009) that S-D logic tends to
focus on <strong>the</strong> harmony <strong>of</strong> social interaction. It is arguable that S-D logic has emphasized on <strong>the</strong>
process <strong>of</strong> value creation (or benefit creation); <strong>the</strong>refore, S-D logic has to put more weight on its bright
side (Pongsakornrungsilp and Schroeder 2011). However, in this paper, <strong>the</strong> social interaction process
(as referred to <strong>the</strong> CLP; Prahalad and Ramaswamy 2004) <strong>of</strong> S-D logic has been employed to
understand <strong>the</strong> social resources or social capital co-created by network members. It can contribute
our understanding how resources (i.e. social capital) obstruct <strong>the</strong> CLP within <strong>the</strong> social network.
5. Research context: an online amulet community
The ‘Suggestion <strong>the</strong> Good Amulet for Affection, Richness, and Success’ community (hereafter; SGA
community) is a social network <strong>of</strong> amulet consumption where members have different backgrounds –
gender, age, occupation, experience, and so forth. In May 2011, this forum has been viewed
1,905,010 times, and posted 45,189 threads since May 15, 2010. There are 3,492 members activated
in this community. The SGA community has done different activities both <strong>of</strong>fline and online managed
by members who gain social capital, acknowledgement as a network <strong>of</strong> management groups.
This amulet network has gradually evolved into <strong>the</strong> consumer organization where a leader,
organization structured, management teams, and advocators have automatically formed. As
mentioned by Adler and Kwon (2002), <strong>the</strong>se are individual social capitals which members gain from
<strong>the</strong> social interaction for <strong>the</strong>ir own resource due to reciprocity and voluntarily <strong>of</strong> members. It is
mentioned by McLean (1995) that consumer organization is consumer empowerment through <strong>the</strong>
collaboration among members. She also mentions that <strong>the</strong> conflicts among members are inevitable
within this organization. These conflicts have typically been found in <strong>the</strong> SGA community that provide
us an understanding how members employ <strong>the</strong> social capital to solve <strong>the</strong> conflict (see also
Pongsakornrungsilp and Schroeder 2011), and also provide <strong>the</strong> case study <strong>of</strong> this paper which
focuses on dark side <strong>of</strong> social capital – an obstruction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> CLP. Additionally, <strong>the</strong> SGA is appropriate
to make understanding <strong>the</strong> dark side <strong>of</strong> social capital because its context <strong>of</strong> community, amulets,
relates to Thai culture. Moreover, as an insider, researcher can observe <strong>the</strong> emergence <strong>of</strong> social
capital within <strong>the</strong> SGA and also consider how it obstructs <strong>the</strong> CLP.
6. Methodology
The data presented in this study were collected through netnography and ethnography methodology.
As mentioned by Kozinets (2007), scholars should not rely to only one research method, but <strong>the</strong>y
should apply different methods to obtain relevant and valid data. Thus, netnography and ethnography
have been employed to collect <strong>the</strong> data. Netnography is recommended by Kozinets (2010) as an
online ethnographic method for understanding <strong>the</strong> cultural phenomenon in online communities.
The CLP have been observed within Palungjit.com [http://www.palungjit.com], one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most
popular online Buddhism communities in <strong>the</strong> world with 352,877 members in May 2011 (Palungjit.com
2011). One online community within Palungjit.com is included in this study: ‘The SGA community’
[http://board.palungjit.com/f127/ - - - -
239528.html]. The permission has been permitted by <strong>the</strong> moderator and also members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> forum
for conducting participant and non-participant observations. Additional inquiries were obtained
through Personal Message (PM) in order to triangulate data.
Additionally, ethnography method has also been employed to make understanding a solidarity group
<strong>of</strong> members’ social capital through <strong>of</strong>f-line activities. Participant and non-participant observations have
also been conducted from <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>f-line activities <strong>of</strong> this community. Like o<strong>the</strong>r online communities (e.g.
MacIntosh community, Harley Davidson community, and so forth; Muñiz and O’Guinn 2001),
members <strong>of</strong> this community usually set up <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fline meeting in order to have face-to-face
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