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Markus A. Hagenmaier, Michael A. Zaggl and Christina Raasch

To be unique or not to be unique? How product characteristics affect choice behavior in mass customization. Markus A. Hagenmaier, Michael A. Zaggl and Christina Raasch 12th Annual Open and User Innovation Conference July 28-30, 2014 Harvard Business School, Boston.

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Markus A. Hagenmaier, Michael A. Zaggl and Christina Raasch

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  1. To be unique or not to be unique? How product characteristics affect choice behavior in mass customization Markus A. Hagenmaier, Michael A. Zaggl and Christina Raasch 12th Annual Open and User Innovation Conference July 28-30, 2014 Harvard Business School, Boston

  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 customization Markus Hagenmaier / Michael Zaggl / Christina Raasch

  3. Central question: When do customers want to be unique in their choices and when do they prefer to conform with others? Our main hypothesis and theoretical foundations Example from car configuration • 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) andprefer to conform with others in utilitarian attributes (prevention-oriented) Engine Utilitarian ... Color Hedonic • Customers prefer • conformity • Customers prefer uniqueness Choice behavior in mass customization Markus Hagenmaier / Michael Zaggl / Christina Raasch

  4. We use experiments to investigate the choice behavior of users of mass customization toolkits Method: Online and lab experiments... ... using toolkits that visualize participants' configuration • 135 participants in lab • Participants configured a car • Choices covered two attribute types: • Treatment group got information onthe popularity of optionsby 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 Utilitarian attributes • Exterior color • Seat design • Wheels design • Engine • Extras • Services Choice behavior in mass customization Markus Hagenmaier / Michael Zaggl / Christina Raasch

  5. Results support our hypothesis: users prefer conformity in utilitarian and uniqueness in hedonic product dimensions Utilitarian attributes (example: Engine) Hedonic attributes (example: Exterior color) Difference in choices between control and treatment group1 Difference in choices between control and treatment group1 Chi-Square: 23.283*** Utilitarian value2: 5.70 (max.: 7) Chi-Square: 35.370*** Hedonic value2: 5.11 (max.: 7) conforming ----------------------------------------- unique conforming ------------------------------------------ unique  Tendency towards conformity  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 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) Choice behavior in mass customization Markus Hagenmaier / Michael Zaggl / Christina Raasch

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