Analyzing Web 2.0 Internet Users in Order to Drive Innovation in Distribution Strategy of Luxury Watches

While luxury watch industry is discussing whether to allow some distributors selling on the WEB 1.0, Internet users are gathering into communities on the WEB 2.0. Watch companies do not really believe in the necessity of being on the Internet in order to meet their customers. On the contrary, we assumed that luxury watches customers are heavy Internet users and are prone to buy over the Net. In order to confirm our hypothesis, we analyzed WEB 2.0 messages according to the netnography methodology (1). We identified and selected specific blogs dealing with luxury watches with the aim of revealing the actual Internet users thinking about luxury watches. The results give some insights about the attitudes of WEB 2.0 users toward luxury watches that can be used in order to innovate and launch new distribution and service web offerings for the luxury watch industry. Watch customers are playing and living in the WEB 2.0 era whereas luxury watches are vacillating about selling or not selling through authorized intermediaries. This industry could be a good case illustrating a market driven innovation process.

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