Spoiled for Choice: Consumer Confusion in Internet-Based Mass Customization

Abstract

Companies are challenged to shift production and marketing strategies from focusing on market segments to making individually customized offers. Mass customization, however, leads to a tre- mendous extension of the configuration possibilities and in turn choice. As a consequence, cus- tomers can easily be overwhelmed with choice and information which can negatively affect deci- sion behavior. In marketing literature, this phenomenon has been described as consumer confu- sion. It leads to coping strategies such as to abandon the purchase decision, postpone the purchase, seek additional information, delegate the decision, etc. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the consumer's product knowledge and of the vendor's usability of the website on consumer con- fusion in the context of internet-based mass customisation. Then, the impact of consumer confu- sion on five coping strategies (share/delegate the decision, seek additional information, narrow down the choice set/choose the standard model, abandon the purchase, and choose low-price of- fers) is tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) with Partial Least Squares (PLS). We report the results of an experiment (N=180), where subjects were confronted with an online- buying situation of a mass-customized product (laptop) using a configuration tool of the vendor. Kew words: Mass customisation, configuration tools, consumer confusion, coping strategies, us- ability, product knowledge.

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