174 Int. J. Web Based Communities, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2011 Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Experience design for communities in virtual worlds: come for the attraction, stay for the interaction Thomas Kohler* Department of Management and Marketing, College of Business Administration, Hawaii Pacific University, 1132 Bishop Street, Suite 504-4, Honolulu, 96813, Hawaii and Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, Innsbruck University School of Management, Universitaetsstrasse 15, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria E-mail: tkohler@hpu.edu E-mail: thomas.kohler@uibk.ac.at *Corresponding author Kurt Matzler and Katja Hutter Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, Innsbruck University School of Management, Universitätsstr. 15, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria Fax: +43-512/507-2968 E-mail: kurt.matzler@uibk.ac.at E-mail: Katja.Hutter@uibk.ac.at Robin Thiemann Fujitsu Technology Solutions GmbH, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Str. 8, D-80807 Munich, Germany Fax: +49-(89)62060-329-2563 E-mail: robin.thiemann@ts.fujitsu.com Johann Füller HYVE AG, Schellingstrasse 45, D-80799 Munich, Germany and Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, Innsbruck University School of Management, Universitaetsstrasse 15, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria E-mail: johann.fueller@hyve.de Abstract: Virtual worlds offer unprecedented opportunities for companies to tap the innovative potential of consumers and consumer communities. One central precondition of a co-creation approach is to turn a one-time visitor into a returning member of an innovating community. The purpose of this article is