| Customization in computer-mediated environments (e-customization) remains an unexplored research area despite significant business spending in areas such as personalization tools and add-on options representing levels of product attributes. Moreover, most marketers do not know the amount of added value (as perceived by consumers) that is directly attributable to their e-customization strategies.; This study offers an in-depth investigation of e-customization value. A framework is developed that relates customization value to a number of key constructs and variables. Customization value is the core construct in the framework—conceptualized as the consumer's perceived worth derived from (1) anticipated fulfillment of desires or preferences that are expected to result from tailoring product (or service) attributes or benefits, and (2) the tailoring process itself separate from the resulting fulfillment of product (service) preferences. Other constructs examined include perceived sufficiency of information, tolerance for discrepancies between purchase desires and anticipated product/service performance, perceived cognitive cost of engaging in e-customization processes, sensitivity to product prices, change in endowment perceptions, expected likelihood of returning the product after purchase, the framing of product information, and product types.; Results of the empirical tests of hypothesized relationships in the proposed e-customization framework may provide potent implications for marketers. For instance, endowment perceptions were positively related to customization value, price sensitivity was negatively related to customization value, and the likelihood of product return was negatively related to endowment perceptions. Increases in customization value appeared to enhance marketing effectiveness by decreasing price sensitivity, increasing endowment perceptions, and reducing the likelihood of product return.; In addition, the experimental results showed that perceived e-customization value does not simply stem from the ability to “narrow-cast” content more specifically related to a shopper's interests (i.e., anticipated fulfillment value). Rather, this value also stems from the dynamic flexibility of the information system and its ability to entertain and educate during the information dissemination process (i.e., process value and knowledge value). Furthermore, when the customization framing features are better matched with product type characteristics, e-customization seemed to increase value in ways that are difficult to achieve in conventional shopping environments. |
