Ebay

I was thinking about the discussion in class about Ebay and was rather interested in the idea of communities. I never understood the marketing technique... to bring together those that are of the same class, those that have the same wants, desires, and passions into a community where they can all enjoy each others similar ideas. I guess I've never been attracted to those type of things... well, maybe I have and just have never noticed? Anyway, the point is, it's apparently a really good technique. The strategy behind it is to bring together the love group with the undecided group so that the undecided begin to fall in love with the product... they begin to assimilate to the love group. It's a good strategy, but I can't help but wonder if it doesn't cause some problems, especially with Ebay, with exclusivity. Might some people who are coming to look at the product or use the product feel somewhat out of the loop? Are they losing customers because there's a certain learning curve and embarrassment for being a 'beginner'? I think that's why I've always kept out of those groups. I don't like the feeling of exclusivity. But, despite that, the strategy apparently works and one must remember that peer pressure is one of the greatest forms of pressure... so no wonder it works.