Introduction Introduction This thesis will be about Mass Customization that uses online information systems to enable the cooperative interaction between a customer and a producer in the design and production of a customized good. More specifically, the research question that will be addressed is: What is the influence of the two product characteristics of a product’s 1) primary value appeal and 2) the (early stage) possibility to evaluate this value prior to customization on the link between a consumer’s self-assessed levels of his own ability and motivation to use online MC on its intention to use online mass customization for such products? This chapter gives an overview of the content of this thesis and will try to clarify what it will and won’t cover. Therefore, an impression of the main concepts used (section 1.2 and 1.3), the scope in which they will be used (section 1.5) and the pros and cons of the new approach that Mass Customization brings over the status quo of traditional mass production (section 1.4) is given first. Secondly, the research objectives will be stated (section 1.6), which is followed by the formulation of the research questions (section 1.7). This will be concluded with an outline (section 1.8) of what will follow in the remainder of the thesis. First, it is interesting to pose the question where Mass Customization came from and how it evolved? The advent of Mass Customization can be traced back to Toffler’s book ‘Future Shock’ . However, the first one that gave the concept its name was Davis . Later, the term was popularized by Joseph Pine II . But nowadays the concept of Mass Customization and its related concepts can even be seen as a paradigm shift from the way business was usually done (Aijo, 1996, p. 16; Kotha, 1995; Hart C. W., 1996, p. 12; Tseng & Jiao, 1996; Tseng & Jiao, 2001; Wind & Rangaswamy, 2001, pp. 9, 33; Sawhney, 2002). Hence, the concept of Mass Customization stands in sharp contrast to the traditional practice and its ultimate
Introduction Introduction This thesis will be about Mass Customization that uses online information systems to enable the cooperative interaction between a customer and a producer in the design and production of a customized good. More specifically, the research question that will be addressed is: What is the influence of the two product characteristics of a product’s 1) primary value appeal and 2) the (early stage) possibility to evaluate this value prior to customization on the link between a consumer’s self-assessed levels of his own ability and motivation to use online MC on its intention to use online mass customization for such products? This chapter gives an overview of the content of this thesis and will try to clarify what it will and won’t cover. Therefore, an impression of the main concepts used (section 1.2 and 1.3), the scope in which they will be used (section 1.5) and the pros and cons of the new approach that Mass Customization brings over the status quo of traditional mass production (section 1.4) is given first. Secondly, the research objectives will be stated (section 1.6), which is followed by the formulation of the research questions (section 1.7). This will be concluded with an outline (section 1.8) of what will follow in the remainder of the thesis. First, it is interesting to pose the question where Mass Customization came from and how it evolved? The advent of Mass Customization can be traced back to Toffler’s book ‘Future Shock’ . However, the first one that gave the concept its name was Davis . Later, the term was popularized by Joseph Pine II . But nowadays the concept of Mass Customization and its related concepts can even be seen as a paradigm shift from the way business was usually done (Aijo, 1996, p. 16; Kotha, 1995; Hart C. W., 1996, p. 12; Tseng & Jiao, 1996; Tseng & Jiao, 2001; Wind & Rangaswamy, 2001, pp. 9, 33; Sawhney, 2002). Hence, the concept of Mass Customization stands in sharp contrast to the traditional practice and its ultimate