THE STRATEGIES OF USING VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES IN BUILDING CUSTOMER CAPITAL

In the conditions of growing demand and rising barriers to customer requirements, the key competence of the company that determines its duration and development, is the ability to create the customer capital. This ability is directly related to the building and transferring of knowledge. The customers are becoming a source of knowledge for the enterprise more and more, who create their own initiative or are inspired by the enterprise. Virtual communities are embroiled in a web of relationships enabling interactive communication message, the content of which can be used in the process of: design, manufacturing, delivery and communication of values. Realizing the potential of virtual community generates business opportunities to create a unique product. Such a product meeting the functional and emotional tasks defined by the customer, is created on the basis of relationships grounding on cooperation and commitment of the customer, which positively reflect the stability of the relationship, and thus reduce the risk of capital engagement. The research on changes in attitudes and behavior of customers and on the emerging challenges for the company, identified the opportunities and barriers of building the knowledge base with the help of virtual communities and show that the effective use of the potential of virtual communities in the process of customer capital creation requires not only the development and implementation of strategy integrated with the global strategy of the company but also building an organizational culture open to the implementation of the customer‟s interest. The verification of the hypothesis is based on the analysis of scientific research centers and other studies in the literature.