46 Int. J. Electronic Banking, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Governance of web 2.0 platforms in the stock exchanges industry Stefan Stieglitz* and Christoph Lattemann Department of Corporate Governance and eCommerce, University of Potsdam, Germany E-mail: stefan.stieglitz@uni-potsdam.de E-mail: christoph.lattemann@uni-potsdam.de *Corresponding author Abstract: Existing structures on financial stock markets circumvent a direct Customer Relationship Management (CRM), particularly the communication between exchange operators and retail investors, as banks are the legally enthroned intermediary. As a result, exchange operators have only limited information about preferences of retail investors. Web 2.0 applications offer opportunities to bridge this lack. To motivate retail investors to use the implemented web 2.0 applications governance mechanisms must be in place. This contribution describes such a web 2.0 concept and their realisation in practice. First insights about customer acceptance and adoption of such a concept are empirically analysed. Keywords: social software; CRM; stock exchange; motivation. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Stieglitz, S. and Lattemann, C. (2008) ‘Governance of web 2.0 platforms in the stock exchanges industry’, Int. J. Electronic Banking, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.46–59. Biographical notes: Stefan Stieglitz is research fellow at the Faculty of Economics and Social Science at the University of Potsdam at Department of Corporate Governance and E-Commerce, since February 2008. Formerly he held positions in project management in the financial industry and in the internet economy. His research is about social and economic aspects in international management and information systems. In his doctoral thesis he examined the topic of governance of virtual communities from a companies` perspective. He published several book contributions and articles in reputable international journals. Additionally, he is a reviewer for international journals and conferences. Christoph Lattemann is Professor for Corporate Governance und E-Commerce at the University of Potsdam since 2002. Since 2007, he is a Visiting Professor at the Hasso-Plattner Institute for Software Engineering and the Copenhagen Business School. Previously, he held senior positions in project management in the financial industry. His research encompasses topics in information management and systems, business management, finance and international business. He published about 100 journal articles, books, and contributions in conference proceedings. He is a reviewer for international journals and conferences, and a consultant for governments and corporate partners.