Mass Customization excites both Researchers and Practitioners because of
the possibility to produce customized products with mass production
efficiency. Mass Customization - An Exploration of European
Characteristics gives an overview on the need for personalisation from a
customer perspective, analyses Mass Customization theories and assesses
relevant best practices of European and International markets. The
results of a survey among more than 500 European customers show a
declining willingness of customers to compromise on the issue of
suitability of products to their personal needs and preferences, the
possibility for companies to break brand loyalty and the influence of
immediate availability, delivery time and price to the customer's
willingness to take part in the co-creation process.
Mass Customization has become important to business because of the
difficulties of customers to find what they want despite an increase in
product variety for many products over the past decades. The emergence
of modern technologies in production and communication, however, allows
companies to produce customized products without relinquishing economies
of scale. With only few companies having taken this promising path, the
authors believe that Mass Customization and Mass Customization related
marketing strategies will play an essential role in the future and
prompt both market leaders and their competitors to offer customization
on a large scale for a vast variety of products.
