The name effect in customization service: the role of psychological ownership and self-threat

Abstract

PurposeThis study investigated the effect of adding a customer's name onto a standard product on the customer's product attitude from the perspective of the name-letter effect and psychological ownership theory.Design/methodology/approachA 2 × 2 experiment was conducted to test the name effect in customization services. The main effects, mediation effects and moderation effects were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and PROCESS 2.16.3.FindingsAdding customers' personal names onto a standard product positively affected their attitude toward the product, and these effects were mediated by psychological ownership. Furthermore, customers' responses were moderated by self-threat, whereby threatening customers' self-concept enhanced their attitude toward the product that had their name on it.Originality/valueThis study found a positive name effect that is applicable to customization services. It also identified mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this effect. Therefore this study extends previous studies on customization services that have solely focusing on complex product personalization by focusing on a service that requires less effort and a more basic customization service. This study also extends previous findings about name-letter effects by focusing on the associations between an individual and an object that are induced by shared name letters and by studying how directly adding a personal name onto an object can influence these associations.

When does customization improve brand attitude?

“…They were awarded with monetary compensation for their participation. In all studies, the fictitious brand, C&B, was used to avoid any confounding effects resulting from subjects’ prior relationships with existing real brands (Kennedy and Guzmán, 2020).…”

“…Studies have shown that several factors can lead to increased satisfaction with customized products. These include having a resulting product that: is better matched to the customer's needs (Valenzuela et al, 2009); supports the implicit egotism of having elements of one's self embedded in the product (Kou et al, 2021); enhances one's pride in having a product they designed themselves (Franke et al, 2010); builds a sense of empowerment over consumption (Fuchs et al, 2010); explores the customer's own creativity (Ind and Coates, 2013); and signals their ideal or actual selves to others (Trudeau and Shobeiri, 2016).…”

The effect of robot anthropomorphism on revisit intentions after service failure: a moderated serial mediation model

“…Due to the rapid development of digital technologies, user personalization is valued. In the service sector, more personalization of products or services is achieved in the form of customized services (Kou et al, 2021), such as Apple allowing consumers to print their own generated words and patterns on the products they buy. J€ orling et al (2019) highlight the personalization of robotic service delivery.…”

“…J€ orling et al (2019) highlight the personalization of robotic service delivery. Consumer autonomy in assigning names is an important means of personalizing smart products; names play an important role in the cognitive aspects of personality, and consumers' attitudes towards products with self-naming capacity are significantly higher than those of products in general (Kou et al, 2021). In the field of AI voice assistants, users can personalize the names of voice assistants to a certain extent; for example, "Alexa" can become "Echo."…”

Kustom Kulture Event Marketing as a Brand Community Creativity

“…The consequence is to make the company aware of responsiveness to the different needs of customers in a unique way according to very different characters. Of course, the customization approach has real implications for high costs and increased revenue Therefore, a customized marketing strategy [13] is able to generate a competitive advantage and be able to attract the attention of customers. However, considering the high cost of customization for certain price sensitive customers and the company as a producer, it will reduce the economies of scale, due to the increased cost per unit of product offered.…”