Mass customization and consumer behavior - A case study from a german consumer perspective

Mass customization is a research field which is already well established from a manufacturer viewpoint. Curiously, there is a marginal amount of research studies covering the consumers’ viewpoint and researchers argue that much more research is needed to understand the consumer behavior in terms of mass customization. From a consumers’ viewpoint mass customization can be seen as the production of goods for a relatively large market, which meets exactly the needs of each individual customer with regard to certain product characteristics (differentiation option), at costs roughly corresponding to those of standard mass-produced goods (cost option).

The main purpose of this study was an investigation of relationships between the purchase of mass customized products and demographic and psychological influence factors. Therefore, the study gave an answer on the question whether German consumers had an interest in purchasing mass customized products and what demographic and psychological factors influence the tendency to purchase mass customized products. The reader should have got an impression of the topic of mass customization from a consumer perspective. Therefore the author surveyed 519 German consumers with the help of a self-administered online survey in order to investigate their attitudes toward mass customized products, their willingness to invest additional time and money for MCP and their perceived risk on customized products. The study was conducted on German respondents to discuss similarities and differences to previous studies on the US market as well as a comparison of the UK and Turkish market regarding consumer attitudes and readiness. This study offers practical insights for companies that want to address potential consumers of customized products and gives useful hints for determining suitable target groups for mass customized products.