"Information Technologies and Evolution of the US Car Distribution System: A Field Study"(in Japanese)

Based on clinical field research data, this paper explores emerging patterns of automobile distribution in America. The paper focuses particularly on two aspects of the changes in the late 1990s: (1) new forms of automobile retailers in both used cars and new car businesses (e.g., so called "used car store," or a public large firm owning a chain of large used car stores); (2) New patterns of sales processes through the use of new information technologies (IT) such as internet. Although there are conflicting views about the future of the US automobile distribution systems, my field research seems to indicate that the current changes may be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. First, because of the diversity of purchasing behaviors and attitudes of the US automobile buyers, a unilateral shift from a traditional pattern of sales processes to a new dominant one (e.g., one-price or "no-haggling" sales system, car sales by internet, etc.) is rather unlikely. Instead, there may be a growing diversity in sales processes as new technologies and business formats diffuse in this industry. Second, as long as consumers stick to the existing patterns of car purchasing from inventories, the new information technologies (e.g., internet) may simply rationalize and thereby strengthen the existing patterns of inventory sales, rather than switching to a new pattern such as mass customization. To sum up, the magnitude of changes in the US car distribution system would tend to be limited by the degree of changes and diversity of the consumers' car buying behaviors and attitudes. New technologies will be able to change the distribution system radically only when patterns of customer needs change drastically as well.