This article studies the question and answer (Q&A) technology of electronic commerce platforms, an increasingly common form of user-generated content that allows consumers to publicly ask product-specific questions and receive responses, either from the platform or from other customers. Using data from a major online retailer, the authors show that Q&As complement consumer reviews: unlike reviews, questions are primarily asked pre-purchase and focus on clarification of product attributes rather than discussion of quality; answers convey fit-specific information in a predominantly sentiment-free way. Based on these observations, the authors hypothesize that Q&As mitigate product fit uncertainty, leading to better matches between products and consumers, and therefore improved product ratings. Indeed, when products suffering from fit mismatch start receiving Q&As, their subsequent ratings improve by approximately 0.1 to 0.5 stars and the fraction of negative reviews that discuss fit-related issues declines. The extent of the rating increase due to Q&As is proportional to the probability that purchasers will experience fit mismatch without Q&A. These findings suggest that, by resolving product fit uncertainty in an e-commerce setting, the addition of Q&As can be a viable way for retailers to improve ratings of products that have incurred low ratings due to customer-product fit mismatch.

Social knowledge management is a framework that allows its users to create and modify content collaboratively using social media and web 2.0 technologies. Social knowledge management can also be defined as the management of social knowledge where it is aimed towards social development. India today is facing a huge rural-urban divide with regard to poor learning achievement at the elementary level in remote rural areas. Remote rural schools are engulfed with problems such as the unavailability of good quality teachers and a poor learning environment. In this context, the chapter seeks to utilize a robust social knowledge management framework to impart universal education in the form of both formal and informal knowledge to the masses in remote rural areas by mobilising free online knowledge resources and the dormant knowledge capital of educated senior citizens. It further illustrates the design and development of a social media based knowledge management platform named OwlishOracle that addresses issues of exclusion and unequal educational attainment through "connecting generations".

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract