Mass‐customisation in marketing: the consumer perspective

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of mass‐customisation from the point of view of consumer demand. It aims to develop a framework to examine the demand side of the mass‐customisation equation which will allow researchers to identify whether a market of customers who are ready for mass‐customised products exists. In doing so it considers in particular three “inconveniences” of mass‐customisation: the increased price of customised products; the delay in receipt of custom‐made products; and the need for customers to invest time in specifying their preferences before the product can be produced.

Customers’ online shopping preferences in mass customization

“…A price increase might drive both old and potential new customers back to traditional shops or, at least, to non-customisable products. This is also confirmed by other studies, 25,26 which examine the demand curve for consumers and its price flexibility.…”

“…As many customers are not willing to wait any longer than usual, for some products personalisation must be an immediate operation, without adding any extra waiting time. This is also confirmed by the previously mentioned studies, 25,26 which also examined the customer's demand curve flexibility towards delivery time and also proposed a framework for a negotiation between company and customer to reach the equilibrium point that the customer deems as sufficient.…”

“…These numbers gain in importance by taking into account the negative factors associated with mass customization and online shopping, which include the multifaceted perceived risk when purchasing a customised product, 37 the payment of a price premium, the acceptance of waiting time and the time and effort involved. 26 Good opportunities for market penetration Mass customization as a route to customer value High demand for personalised products Branding products no longer guarantees loyal customers because triedand-true marketing techniques from the past no longer work for most products -particularly for complex ones based on new technologies. 38 On the one hand, mass customization is a promising strategy to improve a company's relationship with its customers, 39,40 which might reward mass customization companies with increased loyalty in exchange for the better fit between the self-designed product and individual preferences.…”

Designing the Organization for User Innovation

“…Mass customization strategies also affect the organizational structure and the core business processes. for example, the production system, as well as the distribution system, has to be re-organized in order to deal with "markets of one" (Bardakci & Whitelock, 2003). If companies fail to adapt structurally to this new strategy, they are likely to run into trouble, as the cases of some industry leaders -including toyota, Levi strauss, Dow Jones, Mattel, and Motorola -that have tried to employ mass customization strategies have shown (franke & Piller, 2004;Pine et al, 1993).…”

Mass or Only 'Niche' Customization? Why We Should Interpret Configuration Tool-Kits as Learning Instruments

“…The prototypical example of such a toolkit is the Dell computer configurator, which provides customers with numerous attributes within dimensions such as processor type, RAM, screen size, etc., but hardly any feedback information on the consequences of choices and combinations. The underlying assumption of such "shopping list" toolkits is that customers possess detailed knowledge of their preferences and are thus able to determine the idiosyncratic combination of attributes that matches their individual optimum most closely within the solution space (e.g., Bardakci and Whitelock, 2003;Kotha, 1995;Liechty, Ramaswamy, and Cohen, 2001;Pine, Peppers, and Rogers, 1995;Squire, Readman, Brown, and Bessant, 2006). Or, as Pine et al (1995, p. 103) put it more explicitly, "customers .…”