Christian Alexander Hildebrand

Many product-customization systems enable consumers to obtain input from their peers during the customization process. The design characteristics of these customization systems vary significantly, and some systems provide consumers with the opportunity to receive peer input only privately (i.e., unobservable to fellow consumers) while others allow consumers to receive peer input publicly (i.e., observable to other consumers). Building on prior research on thinking styles and social impact theory, the current work examines the interplay between user, social network, and system design characteristics in social product-customization systems as drivers of whether consumers conform to input received from others on their customized products and of their evaluation of these products. Evidence from one field study and four experiments shows that consumers with more holistic (vs. analytic) thinking styles make more conforming product modifications when receiving public rather than private peer input, and this greater conformity to peer input boosts (vs. diminishes) consumers’ evaluation of customized products when they feel close (vs. distant) to input providers. These findings offer novel insights into how the design of social product-customization systems affects consumers’ evaluation of customized products.

Customizing a product by choosing each of its attributes individually tends to be onerous for consumers, and the benefits of product customization may thus be offset by an increase in choice complexity. As a remedy for this dilemma, the current research introduces the customization via starting solutions (CvSS) architecture, which substantially reduces the complexity of product customization while preserving all of its advantages. Under CvSS, consumers first select one starting solution from a set of prespecified products, which they then refine to create their final customized product. Evidence from nine studies (three of which were conducted in field settings) across a wide range of product domains (shirts, cars, vacation packages, jewelry, and financial products) shows that the CvSS architecture results in substantial benefits relative to the standard attribute-by-attribute product customization format for both consumers (increased satisfaction with their product choices, reduced choice complexity, and enhanced mental simulation of product use) and firms (purchases of more feature-rich, and thus higher-priced, products).

Over the past decade, companies have begun using online ordering capabilities to develop a powerful marketing tool-"mass customization" systems that let customers design their own products. For example, Nike, Lego, Threadless, Porsche, and Ford all give consumers the ability to choose colors and other options. Research shows that consumers value self-created products more than ready-made ones. (As a result, some companies charge more for do-it-yourself, or DIY, designs.) Companies have recently started encouraging consumers to use social media to "share" prototypes of their self-designed products with friends before finalizing their choices. Our research examines the effects of social media sharing on mass customization. How does feedback affect a consumer's design choices? How does it affect his or her satisfaction with the end product?

Enabling consumers to self-design unique products that match their idiosyncratic preferences is the key value driver of modern mass customization systems. These systems are increasingly becoming "social," allowing for consumer-to-consumer interactions such as commenting on each other's self-designed products. The present research examines how receiving others' feedback on initial product configurations affects consumers' ultimate product designs and their satisfaction with these self-designed products. Evidence from a field study in a European car manufacturer's brand community and from two follow-up experiments reveals that receiving feedback from other community members on initial self-designs leads to less unique final self-designs, lower satisfaction with self-designed products, lower product usage frequency, and lower monetary product valuations. We provide evidence that the negative influence of feedback on consumers' satisfaction with self-designed products is mediated by an increase in decision uncertainty and perceived process complexity. The implications of socially enriched mass customization systems for both consumer welfare and seller profitability are discussed.

An abstract of the study "Taking the Complexity Out of Complex Product Customization Decisions," by Christian Hildebrand, Jan R. Landwehr, Andreas Hermann and Gerald Häubl is presented. We propose a two-step product customization mode by which consumers first select one of a small number of presented prototypes, and then customize their final product by refining their initial choice. Evidence from three experiments shows that this customization mode is superior to previously proposed customization modes on various dimensions.

This work examines the effects of conversational interfaces on consumers’ brand perceptions and purchase decisions. Evidence from four experiments shows that incorporating such interfaces into the shopping process promotes more intimate consumer-brand relationships and increases consumers’ inclination to choose high-priced premium offers compared to traditional interfaces.

This work examines the effects of conversational chatbot interfaces on consumers’ brand perceptions and purchase decisions. Evidence from four experiments shows that incorporating such interfaces into the shopping process promotes more intimate consumer-brand relationships and increases consumers’ inclination to choose more higher-priced premium offers compared to traditional interfaces.