As worlds collide: The role of marketing management in customer-to-customer interactions

Compatibility among customers within a consumption setting can help marketing managers ensure that Customer-to-Customer Interaction (CCI) between heterophilous customers does not detract from either customer's service experience. To date, however, much literature has focused on homophilous customers with few noted exceptions. Our research examines CCI under heterophily, which is important when managing an increasingly diverse customer base. This research presents the phenomenon of the collision of two worlds: FurTime and the Kaleidoscape Conference. FurTime is an annual conference mainly attended by furries. The Kaleidoscape Conference is an annual conference mainly attended by people from under-represented ethnoracial groups who are interested in pursuing doctorates in a business discipline. We employ netnography and introspection to theorize about how understanding CCI in the form of acculturation, competition, coopetition, cooperation, and territorialism can inform the role of the marketing manager within CCI.