Technological knowledge diffusion in customers´ community: Case of tire technology

Diffusion of technological knowledge among customers is a big issue due to technology´s complexity. This opens up a communication gap between providers and customers who do not have technological knowledge. This gap often leads customers to choose lesser quality goods and services. Therefore, the gap needs to be reduced by diffusion knowledge and finding way to interact with customers to share that knowledge. The aim of this paper is to identify the key factors of technological knowledge diffusion in the customer community. We selected the tire industry as a sample. This is because, in the tire industry, companies often face a communication gap with consumers who do not understand of tire technology. Tire technology knowledge and medical knowledge has a similarity from the viewpoint of safety, hazards, and sensitivity in terms of technology. We have analyzed drug knowledge diffusion in customer community in our previous work as diffusion research. In this paper, we proposed three hypothetical perspectives to diffuse tire technology knowledge on the basis of the findings of drug knowledge diffusion. In addition, we will identify how manufacturers and dealers in sharing tire technology knowledge with customers through direct contact, which will help customer with their buying decision. Focusing on the customer community as a unit analysis is a new perspective for understanding the mechanism of technology knowledge diffusion in the global tire business.