A Virtual Community Model Proposal: The Gentleman’s Club

In this article, we address the problem of virtual communities, proposing a basket of products’ self-determination model, where the community determines what it is interested to buy and, in some situations, when. In this way, instead of letting a brand or product create the need or desire of the users in the community to buy, it will be the community, through a network effect, to self-influence the user, in order to define what intends to buy reaffirming, also, in this way its identity. This article proposes a conceptual model to be implemented toward a future Case Study research, with a structure within a network capable of influencing itself where members, who share the same interests, can define a basket of products and services and thus reaffirm and evolve their identity.