C to C Interaction Management

Abstract

IntroductionA large motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has gained a favorable image through product design, product customizability, and product appearances in many movies, with a history and narrative extending over 100 years, strong customer appeal for its products, and a powerful brand. Harley-Davidson Japan (HDJ), a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based Harley-Davidson, is Harley-Davidson's master distributor in Japan. It began with forty million yen in capital and less than twenty employees in 1989. HDJ has top market share in Japan, even as the domestic market for large motorcycles (defined as those with engine capacity of 750 cc or more) has shrunk. HDJ has made no capital investment in any of its authorized dealers, and in 2007, all 150 dealers averaged annual sales of 550 million yen with an average employee headcount of 10.9 (Okui, 2008).When purchasing a Harley-Davidson vehicle from a dealer, customers join the Harley Owner Group, or HOG, after paying an annual membership fee of 10,000 yen. HOG is the largest riders group in the world, covering over 131 countries worldwide, with a total global membership of more than 900,000. Japan accounts for approximately 35,000 of those members. Dealers in Japan operate customer communities termed chapters, and HOG members have the benefit of being able to join a chapter.Each chapter operates around a structured annual event plan. Harley-Davidson touring events are different from normal motorcycle tours as they are managed by corporations (HDJ and dealers). First, each chapter will have a regular touring event once a month as per HDJ's directions. In addition, some dealers have original touring events (ladies touring, beginners touring, and overseas trips). Other motorcycle manufacturers indicate HDJ's customer community to be a success factor. It is certain that spontaneous customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions increase the value addition of products and are even known to determine value addition (Kokuryo, 1998). In the open source area, software development is undertaken through frequent C2C interactions within customer communities (Fujita & Ikuine, 2014; Ikuine & Fujita, 2014; Shiu & Yasumoto, 2016).However, there have been many reports of consumers gathering on internet forums to criticize companies or to form boycotts (Kokuryo, 2001); moreover, in some cases, C2C interactions have ceased once consumers have discovered that a company representative has attempted participating in an internet forum to guide the discussion therein according to company aims (Kokuryo, 1997). In other words, C2C interactions can be skillfully managed as simply as they can be poorly managed. In actuality, the two HDJ dealers with very different levels of sales performance (high-performing Dealer A and poor-performing Dealer B) selected for this case study had major differences in how they managed C2C interactions within their chapters.Case AnalysisThis paper uses internal data provided by HDJ through 2012. Each dealer is registered within HDJ's CRM system (including vehicle data), and the HDJ stores aggregate this information. In addition, we conducted face-to-face interviews with HDJ employees (11), dealers (13 stores nationwide for a total of 17 times), and customers (2).High-performing Dealer ADealer A is an exemplary dealer who has received awards from HDJ with regard to CRM. HDJ has collected information on Dealer A's customer-focused management, placed this information onto a DVD, and distributed the DVD to all its dealers nationwide. Other dealers have acknowledged Dealer A's ability to ensure high customer satisfaction. There are two characteristics in the manner they manage C2C interactions.1. Customers participating in chapters are organized by the dealer into groups according to the customer's touring skills.2. Original events are held for each customer group five times per year.Not all customers are the same; they will have a mix of touring skills, ages, genders, and experiences of riding Harley-Davidsons. …