Post on 14-Jan-2016
transcript
Markus A. Hagenmaier, Michael A. Zaggl and Christina Raasch
12th Annual Open and User Innovation Conference
July 28-30, 2014
Harvard Business School, Boston
To be unique or not to be unique?
How product characteristics affect choice behavior in
mass customization
7/30/2014 2
Feet like no one else. Personalize your ZX 700 and stand out from the crowd.1
Discover our individual city car. Get in and enjoy the feeling of being unique.2
1. Source: http://www.adidas.de 2. Source: http://www.opel.de
Choice behavior in mass customizationMarkus Hagenmaier / Michael Zaggl / Christina Raasch
Central question: When do customers want to be unique in their choices and when do they prefer to conform with others?
3
Our main hypothesis and theoretical foundations
Our main hypothesis and theoretical foundations
Customers' preferences for uniqueness depend on personal needs and the
characteristics of the product attributes.
• Need for uniqueness (Snyder 1980, Tian et al. 2001), especially in MC (Schreier 2006, Franke 2008, Merle et al. 2010)
• Concept of regulatory focus (Higgins 1997): People pursue promotion (excitement) and prevention goals (security)
• These goals are linked to hedonic and utilitarian product attributes (Chernev 2004, Chitturi 2008)
• We propose that people pursue uniqueness in hedonic attributes (promotion-oriented) and prefer to conform with others in utilitarian attributes (prevention-oriented)
Choice behavior in mass customizationMarkus Hagenmaier / Michael Zaggl / Christina Raasch
Example from car configurationExample from car configuration
...Engine
Utilitarian
Color
Hedonic
Customers prefer
conformity
Customers prefer
uniqueness
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We use experiments to investigate the choice behavior of users of mass customization toolkits
4
135 participants in lab
Participants configured a car
Choices covered two attribute types:
Treatment group got information on the popularity of options by ranking them from:
• 1 – MOST frequently chosen by others to• 6 or 8 – LEAST frequently chosen by
others
We tested for differences in choice behavior
Hedonic attributes
• Exterior color• Seat design• Wheels design
Utilitarian attributes
• Engine• Extras• Services
... using toolkits that visualize participants' configuration
... using toolkits that visualize participants' configuration
Method: Online and lab experiments...
Method: Online and lab experiments...
Choice behavior in mass customizationMarkus Hagenmaier / Michael Zaggl / Christina Raasch
7/30/2014
Hedonic attributes (example: Exterior color)Utilitarian attributes (example: Engine)
Tendency towards conformity
Results support our hypothesis: users prefer conformity in utilitarian and uniqueness in hedonic product dimensions
5Choice behavior in mass customization
Markus Hagenmaier / Michael Zaggl / Christina Raasch
1. Absolute numbers, no. of participants in control group: 67, no. of participants in treatment group: 68 2. Average value, Likert Scale from 1 to 7; n = 68 (treatment group)
-17
-1
+9+5
+2+3
Difference in choices between control and treatment group1
conforming ----------------------------------------- unique
Chi-Square: 23.283*** Utilitarian value2: 5.70 (max.: 7)
-1-2
+6+4
+8
-3
0
-11
Chi-Square: 35.370*** Hedonic value2: 5.11 (max.: 7)
Difference in choices between control and treatment group1
conforming ------------------------------------------ unique
Tendency towards uniqueness
Implications: • Customers' preferences in product customization are influenced by the choices of
others• Customers pursue uniqueness AND conformity, even in customization procedures• Attribute type is an additional reason for this differing choice behavior
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