Mass Customization of Wedding Gowns: Design Involvement on the Internet

Abstract

After an extensive search of bridal web sites was conducted and categorized in Fabruary and March 2001, a research web site was developed to study mass customization of wedding gowns. It offered choice of design features or components through interactive illustrations and was based on Duray's conceptual framework of mass customization (Duray, 1997;Duray, Ward, Milligan & Berry, 2000). The site served as the experimental treatment for subjects. Following their visit to the site, the subjects completed a questionnaire that dealt with their experience and personal demographic information. A convenience sample of 100 young women between the ages of 18 and 32 was identified through e-mail recruitment. Results confirmed a high overall interest in involvement with the design of a wedding gown. Yet those subjects who were very interested in design involvement were significantly different than those who were less interested in spending more time or paying more money. Subjects who owned more personal technological devices and spent more time on computers and the Internet were significantly more willing to purchase the designed gown. Four categories of bridal web sites were identified based on site characteristics and strategies: marketing, browsing, advice, and customizing. Involvement in wedding dress design on the Internet is not yet available but appears to hold potential for the bridal industry. Research that studies the identification of potential customers by their high interest in design involvement, evaluation of product type and other interactive opportunities for design involvement, and use of Internet customization strategies with other channels of distribution is recommended.

E-Marketing Development and Its Application in Textile Sector of Pakistan—A Theoretical Review

“…They are all using the most updated machinery in their production processes and finalizing all the export orders through emails, online communication, and video conferencing and using different e-marketing tools to achieve the company objectives. Customers required detailed information about the products and services when buying on the internet and also viewed for prices comparison information and vendor information [29]. E-marketing applications are definitely helpful for the textile companies to achieve the company goals.…”

Consumer satisfaction with a mass customized Internet apparel shopping site

“…However, Kamali and Loker (2002) only examined a simple satisfaction measure with the site rather than investigating the constructive measures for satisfaction by analyzing the antecedents and consequences of the satisfaction. Choy and Loker (2005) investigated young women's involvement with the design of wedding gowns. They found that respondents who were highly involved with the design process, and who owned and heavily used technology, were more willing to spend more money to purchase a co-designed wedding gown than were those who did not.…”

“…In addition, most previous mass customization research has been limited to college students (Anderson et al ., 1997; Pisut et al ., 1998; Wu et al ., 1998; Fiore et al ., 2001, 2004; Kamali and Loker, 2002; Lee et al ., 2002; Ulrich et al ., 2003; Choy and Loker, 2005; Lee and Chang, 2010). Research focusing beyond the college student group would provide valuable information toward understanding consumers' satisfaction with mass customization.…”

“…A few studies have used experimental designs to investigate consumers' experiences with mass customization (Kamali and Loker, 2002; Ulrich et al ., 2003; Choy and Loker, 2005). Kamali and Loker (2002) developed an experimental mass customization Internet site to examine the involvement of college students in t‐shirt design.…”

“…Choy and Loker (2005) investigated young women's involvement with the design of wedding gowns. They found that respondents who were highly involved with the design process, and who owned and heavily used technology, were more willing to spend more money to purchase a co‐designed wedding gown than were those who did not.…”