An Integrative Framework for Customizations on Satisfaction: The Case of an Online Jewelry Business in China

Upon the technological advancement of production flexibility, supply chain agility, and customer behavioral tracking, many online businesses now develop their customization strategies. In this regard, this study proposes an integrative framework for customization of product information, transaction handling, product attribute, and sales’ service. We are interested in how these customizations affect customer satisfaction. From our web-based survey on a renowned online jewelry company in China, we collected 1383 responses from its customer database. Our findings showed that information, product and sales’ service customizations have significant influence on customer satisfaction. Moreover, ordinary members as compared with VIP members feel more satisfied once they receive customized services.

[1]  Jerry Wind,et al.  Customerization: The next revolution in mass customization , 2001 .

[2]  Shuk Ying Ho,et al.  Web Personalization as a Persuasion Strategy: An Elaboration Likelihood Model Perspective , 2005, Inf. Syst. Res..

[3]  Hira Cho,et al.  Cultural comparison for the acceptance of online apparel customization , 2010 .

[4]  J. Dietz.  Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer , 1997 .

[5]  Henry Mintzberg,et al.  Reflecting on the Strategy Process , 1999 .

[6]  Sriram Thirumalai,et al.  Customization Strategies in Electronic Retailing: Implications of Customer Purchase Behavior , 2009, Decis. Sci..

[7]  R. Oliver.  A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions , 1980 .

[8]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[9]  J. Helms,et al.  Consumer entitlement theory and measurement , 2005 .

[10]  Frank T. Piller,et al.  Customers as co-designers , 2003 .

[11]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[12]  Thomas Spengler,et al.  Modeling and simulation of order-driven planning policies in build-to-order automobile production , 2011 .

[13]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Research Note: User Design of Customized Products , 2007 .

[14]  Benedict G. C. Dellaert,et al.  Marketing Mass-Customized Products: Striking a Balance between Utility and Complexity , 2005 .

[15]  J. V. Wood,et al.  Depressive personality styles, dysphoria, and social comparisons in everyday life. , 2000, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[16]  Rolph E. Anderson,et al.  Multivariate Data Analysis: Text and Readings , 1979 .

[17]  V. Zeithaml.  Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality, and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence: , 1988 .

[18]  Pattie Maes,et al.  Agents that buy and sell , 1999, CACM.

[19]  Robert P. Leone,et al.  Psychological Implications of Customer Participation in Co-Production , 2003 .

[20]  Gregory R. Heim,et al.  A Product-Process Matrix for Electronic B2C Operations , 2001 .

[21]  L. Berry,et al.  Understanding Service Convenience , 2002 .

[22]  Benedict G. C. Dellaert,et al.  Increasing the Attractiveness of Mass Customization: The Role of Complementary On-line Services and Range of Options , 2009, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[23]  M. Hui,et al.  Perceived Control and the Effects of Crowding and Consumer Choice on the Service Experience , 1991 .

[24]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[25]  Lan Xia,et al.  The Price is Unfair! A Conceptual Framework of Price Fairness Perceptions , 2004 .

[26]  R. Rust,et al.  The Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Consumer Spending Growth , 2010 .

[27]  J. L. Pierce,et al.  The State of Psychological Ownership: Integrating and Extending a Century of Research , 2003 .

[28]  Nikolaus Franke,et al.  The "I Designed It Myself" Effect in Mass Customization , 2010, Manag. Sci..

[29]  Dwayne D. Gremler,et al.  Understanding Relationship Marketing Outcomes , 2002 .

[30]  Paul H. Zipkin,et al.  The Limits of Mass Customization , 2001 .

[31]  U. Doraszelski,et al.  Avoiding market dominance: product compatibility in markets with network effects , 2009 .

[32]  M. Holbrook.  The Nature of Customer Value: An Axiology of Services in the Consumption Experience , 1994 .

[33]  J.P. Rooney,et al.  Customer satisfaction , 1994, Proceedings of Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS).

[34]  D T Gilbert,et al.  When comparisons arise. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[35]  C. Fornell,et al.  Customer Satisfaction, Market Share, and Profitability: Findings from Sweden , 1994 .

[36]  N. Franke,et al.  Value Creation by Toolkits for User Innovation and Design: The Case of the Watch Market , 2004 .

[37]  P. Klemperer.  Markets with consumer switching costs , 1986 .

[38]  Hyun-Hwa Lee,et al.  Consumer Attitudes Toward Online Mass Customization: An Application of Extended Technology Acceptance Model , 2011, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[39]  J. L. Pierce,et al.  Toward a Theory of Psychological Ownership in Organizations , 2001 .

[40]  I. Simonson,et al.  Determinants of Customers' Responses to Customized Offers: Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions , 2003 .

[41]  Birger Wernerfelt,et al.  Brand loyalty and user skills , 1985 .

[42]  Henri Barki,et al.  Measuring User Participation, User Involvement, and User Attitude , 1994, MIS Q..

[43]  Robert W. Palmatier,et al.  Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Relationship Marketing: A Meta-Analysis , 2006 .

[44]  P. M. Podsakoff,et al.  Self-Reports in Organizational Research: Problems and Prospects , 1986 .

[45]  Rolph E. Anderson,et al.  Customer loyalty in e-commerce: an exploration of its antecedents and consequences , 2002 .

[46]  Ruth N. Bolton,et al.  A Multistage Model of Customers' Assessments of Service Quality and Value , 1991 .

[47]  Bart L. MacCarthy,et al.  Mass Customization in the Automotive Industry: Comparing Interdealer Trading and Reconfiguration Flexibilities in Order Fulfillment: Mass Customization in the Automotive Industry , 2010 .

[48]  Hart Blanton,et al.  From seeing to being: subliminal social comparisons affect implicit and explicit self-evaluations. , 2004, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[49]  R. B. Woodruff,et al.  Customer value: The next source for competitive advantage , 1997 .

[50]  James D. Hess,et al.  Customized Products: A Competitive Analysis , 2005 .

[51]  Roland T. Rust,et al.  Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice , 1993 .

[52]  Francesco Ricotta,et al.  Customizing customization: A conceptual framework for interactive personalization , 2007 .

[53]  James E. Hunton,et al.  Involving Information System Users in Defining System Requirements: The Influence of Procedural Justice Perceptions on User Attitudes and Performance , 1996 .

[54]  Denise J. Luethge,et al.  Toward an integrated framework for online consumer behavior and decision making process: A review , 2010 .

[55]  Sriram Thirumalai,et al.  Customization of the online purchase process in electronic retailing and customer satisfaction: An online field study , 2011 .

[56]  Bruce C. Skaggs,et al.  STRATEGIC POSITIONING, HUMAN CAPITAL AND PERFORMANCE IN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS: A CUSTOMER INTERACTION APPROACH , 2003 .

[57]  William L. Berry,et al.  Approaches to mass customization: configurations and empirical validation , 2000 .

[58]  Terry S. Overton,et al.  Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys , 1977 .

[59]  Bart L. MacCarthy,et al.  Mass Customization in the Automotive Industry: Comparing Interdealer Trading and Reconfiguration Flexibilities in Order Fulfillment , 2010 .

[60]  K. Locke,et al.  Agency and Communion in Naturalistic Social Comparison , 2000 .

[61]  C. Grönroos,et al.  The value concept and relationship marketing , 1996 .

[62]  James H. Gilmore,et al.  Markets of one : creating customer-unique value through mass customization , 2000 .

[63]  Gerald L. Lohse,et al.  Designing marketplaces of the artificial with consumers in mind: Four approaches to understanding consumer behavior in electronic environments , 2006 .

[64]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Relational benefits in services industries: The customer’s perspective , 1998 .

[65]  Dai Hai-qun,et al.  On relationship marketing , 2005 .

[66]  G. Mcdougall,et al.  Determinants of customer satisfaction in retail banking , 1996 .

[67]  Rolph E. Anderson,et al.  Nederlandse samenvatting en bewerking van 'Multivariate data analysis, 4th Edition, 1995' , 1998 .