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Introduction
The combination of advanced manufacturing, product design, and information technology enables companies to be highly flexible and responsive in providing customized products through mass customization (MC). Desk top (PC for short) is one of the earliest products to be mass customized. Customized PC has following characteristics:
- PC is customized by combining different kinds of standardized modules; each kind of module may have different varieties and levels; all modules are identified and produced by manufacturers before consumers make their purchasing decisions; manufacturers identify what range of options in modules for customization.
- Needs identification is shifted from vendors (manufacturers or retailers) to consumers, that is, consumers make their purchase decisions on their own through selecting module attributes from options.
- Vendors assemble products with standardized modules according to consumers' special requirements identified by consumers, rather than according to needs identified by vendors before consumers make purchasing decisions.
Conventional purchasing behavior of standardized products is quite different from purchasing behavior of customized products ([37] Tang et al. , 2009). With traditional purchasing, consumers make their decisions after examining and comparing different product alternatives, thus limiting their selections to the existing offerings. Customized PC, however, allows consumers to configure their PCs based on a wide range of module attributes. These differences show that factors influencing consumers' decision making may be different between purchasing customized and standardized products.
A few studies aim at identifying underlying factors influencing consumers' decision making regarding purchasing customized products. Some factors were determined. However, little attention was paid to empirical testing relationships between the factors determined and consumers' intention to purchase customized products.
We aim at identifying determinants of Chinese consumers' intention to purchase customized PC and their effect levels using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique and latent construct model. The associations in the model are based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), but with broader constructs and relationships. We tested the model using empirical data from 779 respondents.
Literature review
Determinants of customized product purchasing intention
[33] Piller and Muller (2004) use an example of footwear to provide insight into consumers' demand for customization. Better fit is regarded as the most important benefit by consumers. [35] Schreier (2006) measured value increment perceived by customers designing their own cell phone covers,...