You’re One in a Million: Strict Uniqueness of Mass-Customized Products
Type
doctoral thesis
Author(s)
;
;
Krause, Franziska
;
Franke, Nikolaus
;
Klanner, Ilse-Maria
;
Abstract
Many firms allow consumers to customize their own products by making a series of choices about individual product attributes. This paper investigates extensions of mass customization systems that capitalize on the fact that customized products are often one-of-a-kind—that is, strictly unique. The first extension is informing the consumer that this is the case (strict uniqueness feedback). The second is assuring the consumer that, once purchased, his or her specific product configuration will remain unique and not be available to other consumers (strict uniqueness blocking). We hypothesized that both strict uniqueness feedback and strict uniqueness blocking increase consumers’ valuation of a product. Evidence from a series of field, lab, and online experiments provides compelling support for this theorizing. It also shows that these effects are attenuated when the size of the mass customization system’s solution space is made transparent to consumers. Conversely, the effects are amplified for conspicuous (vs. non-conspicuous) product attributes, providing direct managerial implications. This research advances our understanding of the psychological forces that govern consumers’ appreciation of customized products by identifying two related extensions of mass customization systems that exploit the notion of strict product uniqueness.
Language
English
Keywords
mass customization
product uniqueness
automated feedback
conspicuousness
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
Global Center for Customer Insight
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
261720