Increasing the consumer-perceived benefits of a mass-customization experience through sales-configurator capabilities

Trentin, Alessio; Perin, Elisa; Forza, Cipriano

doi:10.1016/j.compind.2014.02.004

Cited by 59 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 124 publications

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“…Finally, our study suggests the possibility of improving OSCs by not only working on the established OSC capabilities (see [80] as an example of improvement identification), but also working on the OSC´s connection with SSW, thus satisfying the users' social-interaction needs during their configuration processes. We know that these OSC capabilities positively influence both experience [7,15] and product-related customization [2,57,61]. It would be interesting to explore whether by acting on OSC-SSW connections, it could be possible to increase the OSC capabilities or their effect on customization benefits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many cases OSCs are implemented with recommendation systems to further facilitate customers in their search for suitable solutions [51,53,55]. Depending on the different capabilities deployed by OSCs, customers can benefit from different kinds of OSC support provided by OSCs during the configuration process [57]. The capabilities of OSCs have been shown to positively influence the benefits related to the configuration experience itself (e.g.…”

Section: Online Sales Configuratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The capabilities of OSCs have been shown to positively influence the benefits related to the configuration experience itself (e.g. hedonic and creative achievement benefits) [57][58][59] and benefits related to the possession of a configured product (e.g. utilitarian, uniqueness, and self-expressiveness benefits) [2,60,61].…”

Section: Online Sales Configuratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SSW has recently been connected to OSCs [27,28,57]. Despite the novelty of this phenomenon, an increasing number of OSCs are currently connected to SSW [28].…”

Section: Connection Modalities Between Online Sales Configurators Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Users’ Social-interaction Needs While Shopping via Online Sales Configurators

Grosso¹,

Forza²

2019

Int J Ind Eng Manag

Self Cite

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The growing adoption of social web technologies such as social software (SSW) in online configuration environments has enabled the possibility of supporting configurator users in interacting digitally with real people while they are shopping for customized products. Previous research has identified that online sales configurators (OSCs) are currently connected to SSW with different modalities to provide configurator users with a variety of options to digitally interact with real people. Enriching the configuration environment with social-interaction tools has engendered the phenomenon of socialproduct customization. Recent studies considered the social product-customization by investigating the impact that community feedback and social comparisons has on configurator user. However, the OSCs users' need to interact with different referents during their configuration process, and whether the SSW-OSCs connections respond to this need are still unsearched. To address this gap, the present study explores (a) whether users experience the need to interact with different referents while shopping via OSCs and (b) which interaction modalities users are looking for. By considering 943 configuration experiences from 189 users of 378 OSCs for various consumer goods, the present study finds that the need for social interaction by OSC users is highly relevant. Moreover, OSC users perceive the need to interact with different referents during different stages of the configuration process, and, depending on the referent with whom they wish to interact, they are interested in different interaction modalities in terms of how and where those interactions take place. These findings imply that mass customizers may leverage their customers' need to interact with real people while shopping online via OSCs in order to better engage their actual and potential customers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Online Sales Configuratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Online Sales Configuratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SSW has recently been connected to OSCs [27,28,57]. Despite the novelty of this phenomenon, an increasing number of OSCs are currently connected to SSW [28].…”

Section: Connection Modalities Between Online Sales Configurators Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Users’ Social-interaction Needs While Shopping via Online Sales Configurators

Grosso¹,

Forza²

2019

Int J Ind Eng Manag

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Subsequent studies focused on key characteristics of toolkits or configurators effective in enhancing the consumer's perceived value of MC. These confirmed the nature of a successful MC experience for the consumer as the interaction between her and the tools she employed to engage in the customization of an offering [16,30,31,32,33,34]. Collaboration between the consumer and firm via the co-design experience develops this partnership, but the consumer's use of the toolkit is what creates experiential value for her [30,31,32].…”

Section: The Nature Of the MC Co-design Experiencementioning

confidence: 69%

The Mixed Reality Toolkit as the Next Step in the Mass Customization Co-Design Experience

Turner¹,

Welch²

2019

Int J Ind Eng Manag

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The mass customization (MC) toolkit is the major enabler of relational value for consumers. Not a new concept, but nascent in the context of the MC co-design experience, mixed reality (MR) merges the real and virtual world. While the literature extols the significance of MR components-augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)-in manufacturing, IT, education and, to a limited extent, retail, few if any studies address its relevance to MC and the consumer's perceived value of the co-design experience. Is a mixed reality configurator viable as the enabler of relational benefit in the consumer co-design experience? With visual and feedback features critical to the structure of successful webbased configurators, what characteristics must a MR toolkit possess to deliver optimal experiential value to the MC consumer? What is the nature of the MR toolkit and its bearing upon perceived complexity, control and enjoyment of the co-design process? Are these perceptions the most relevant to consider in designing a MC toolkit utilizing MR technology? This conceptual paper attempts to define a mixed reality toolkit and explore its potential influence on the consumer's perception of value of the MC co-design experience in the mixed reality context. .

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When Does Construction Enhance Product Value? Investigating the Combined Effects of Object Assembly and Ownership on Valuation

Walasek

Rakow

Matthews

2015

Behavioral Decision Making

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Recent findings have shown that even without the ability to customize a product, individuals pay more for goods that they assembled. In this paper we examine which components of this creation process account for the increase in valuation, and whether it operates equally for owners and non‐owners of the self‐assembled object. Based on the self‐extension theory of ownership, we propose a psychological mechanism by which the assembly process strengthens the self–object association. In three experiments, we find that—although witnessing the assembly process or assembling a similar product can increase participants' evaluation of, and attachment to, a product that they own—a greater and more consistent increase in valuation and attachment arises when owners assemble their product themselves. Seemingly, merely learning about the assembly process plays only a small role in enhancing value; for substantial increases in value, one must actually assemble the product oneself. Contrary to the previous findings on the effects of labour on willingness to pay, we find little effect of product assembly among non‐owners of the product. We suggest that self‐assembly encourages objects to be incorporated into the self, but that this occurs most effectively when one owns the product. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Increasing the consumer-perceived benefits of a mass-customization experience through sales-configurator capabilities

Cited by 59 publications

References 124 publications

Users’ Social-interaction Needs While Shopping via Online Sales Configurators

Users’ Social-interaction Needs While Shopping via Online Sales Configurators

The Mixed Reality Toolkit as the Next Step in the Mass Customization Co-Design Experience

When Does Construction Enhance Product Value? Investigating the Combined Effects of Object Assembly and Ownership on Valuation

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