"Why do we buy mass customised products?"-consumer's perspective of success factors for online mass customisation.

Abstract

Mass customisation has become a prospective business strategy for many industries. Despite the great efforts that have been put into producing such systems (e.g., NikeID), a survey indicated that nearly half of consumers still prefer to buy mass produced products [8]. Another study also concluded the increase in mass customisation has led to a decline in customer satisfaction of the sales process [9]. Given these considerations, this paper aims to, from the consumer’s perspective, investigate the factors influencing consumer purchase intention of online mass customisation. Overall, 15 participants were invited to customise a product using one of the selected websites and one-to-one interviews were conducted afterwards. We have found that consumer purchase intention is influenced by multiple factors and price is the primary concern. Based on the interview results, strategies have been given for both new start-up companies and companies that are already strongly established to employ mass customisation. These findings help us learn about the consumer experience of mass customisation and contribute to the implementation of best practices for mass customisation.