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Customization Strategies in Electronic Retailing: Implications of Customer Purchase Behavior *
Author(s) -
Thirumalai Sriram,
Sinha Kingshuk K.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
decision sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.238
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1540-5915
pISSN - 0011-7315
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5915.2008.00222.x
Subject(s) - personalization , mass customization , product (mathematics) , business , extant taxon , customer value , purchasing , value (mathematics) , database transaction , marketing , order (exchange) , process (computing) , computer science , process management , database , economics , mathematics , market economy , geometry , hierarchy , finance , evolutionary biology , machine learning , biology , operating system
In this article, we assess the implications of customer purchase behavior on customization in electronic retailing. We develop a classification scheme for customization strategies in electronic retailing. The classification scheme comprises three customization strategies: (i) transaction customization, (ii) decision customization, and (iii) product customization. We develop scales to measure each of the three customization strategies using a systematic four‐stage scale development process. Building on the extant literature on customer purchase behavior, we design an experiment to examine the alignment of the customization strategies with three well‐established product types: (i) convenience goods, (ii) shopping goods, and (iii) specialty goods, and its implications for customer value. The findings of the experiment indicate that there are significant differences in the customer value for the three customization strategies across the three product types. The contributions of the study, the managerial implications of the study findings, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.