Success of mass customization toolkits: Product design typicality as boundary condition

Mass customization toolkits are often unsuccessful in inducing purchases of self-designed products. By adopting a user-centric view, the current study proposes that category involvement might function as an antecedent of purchase intentions, mediated by customers’ category–self-connection and moderated by perceived product design typicality. Leveraging attachment and categorization theory, we hypothesize that highly involved users already possess a strong sense of category–self-connection, which interferes with their purchase decisions if self-designed products appear typical of the product category rather than unique. Three studies test this theorizing. Study 1 (field study) demonstrates that category involvement increases actual purchase intentions. Study 2 (experiment) shows that the relationship between category involvement and purchase intentions is mediated by category–self-connection, as well as negatively moderated by perceived product design typicality. Study 3 (field study) corroborates the findings in another context (cars). The combined findings lead to theoretical and practical implications for user toolkits and their design.