Sessions
Session 8
Advances in Customer Interaction and Marketing for MCP
Monday Oct 5 2009
14:05-15:25
Vibæk, Kasper Sánchez (CINARK - Center of Industrialised Architecture, Royal Dansih Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Denmark)
User Involvement as a Configurable Integrated Product Delivery
Integrated product deliveries as known from the product industry are beginning to emerge in construction. These are normally considered as physical systems that can be configured and customised for a specific delivery to form part of a unique construction project and help to reduce the complexity of the total construction project. However tools for handling the equally complex processes that leads to the final result are also required. This paper uses a specific software tool recently developed for user involvement in construction processes as a setoff for discussing the process focus as an equally relevant field for development of customisable integrated product deliveries in construction. This development and its causes challenge the traditional role of the architect as the centre point in the creation of physical wholes or entireties. If user involvement, as argued, can be considered as a configurable integrated product delivery then the architect can – using slightly provocatively a term from the production industry – be seen a configuration manager of processes shaping our physical surroundings. Products focusing on standardisation and mass customisation of the building process rather than physical systems could however become architecturally intriguing by leaving more open the solution space of the final result.
Chen, Vivienne (Yu)
"Listening In" method to predict consumer purchase likelihood of green cars under mass customization approach
Fuel-efficient automobiles are the hope for the automobile industry. However, the survival of this innovative product depends not only on the design guided by the “Lean” engineering theories, but also on consumers’ expectations and willingness to adopt the automobiles. With the Internet’s increasing power as an information provider, the web-based adviser concept has been used in both consumer and business-to-business markets, such as high-end copiers, home entertainment centers, and financial services (Ulrich and Eppinger 1995). The virtual adviser system would help resolve the real mass customization (one-to-one marketing) problem in fuel-efficient automobile promotion. The development of fuel efficient automobiles can require tremendous amounts of investment. As such, consumers’ expectations should be considered as an important factor at the very first stage of the development. The combination of web-based adviser and the fuel-efficient automobile design therefore needs to be explored and understood for the sake of the consumers and the sake of the industry. This proposal suggests the application of the “Listening In” method to find combinations between customer needs and fuel-efficient automobile designs. Further, the research aims to identify the relationships between consumer purchase preferences and the virtual marketing conditioning (virtual interaction with consumers and experimental stimuli during the interaction). “Listening In” refers to the ongoing dialogues created when customers use the Internet to search for information and for advice about automotive purchases (Urban & Hauser 2004). “Listening In” not only permits access to data that are available at little incremental cost, but also provides a scale that is large enough to identify opportunities. As illustrated in Urban and Hauser’s research (2004), “Listening In” includes mainly the Bayesian virtual interaction to obtain the data, explore and clarify the identified opportunity and a design palette to explore how customers would design their desired products.
Chi, Chaoyin (Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK), Industrial Technology Research Institutes (ITRI), Taiwan)
Hypermarket, Fair or Workshop - Customer Involve in Service Sectors
People sometimes want to show off and sometimes stay low profile. The same situation should apply to shopping. We choose different store when demands differ. Due to different demands, suppliers design various types of customer involvement to enhance attractions. But you must be familiar with the followings. When you’re a customer, do you have the experience of feeling ignored or bothered? When you’re a supplier, do you sense offering too much or less? Hypermarket, fair and workshop are three types of customer involvement. It depends on what value the supplier wants to deliver. Based on that, enablers of each type are developed. In service industry, products could be the target to invite customer’s involvement. Besides, time and location are also good targets for customization.
Ono, Akinori (Keio University, Japan)
Endo, Sage (University of Mississippi, United States)
The Integration of Mass-Customized and Mass-Produced Product Shopping in a Single Website Environment
Most mass-customization (MC) studies have focused mainly on the MC shopping process instead of on a shopping process integrating mass-customized products (MCP) and mass-produced products (MPP). In real online shopping settings, only a few online retailers provide MCP exclusively. Rather, many online retailers provide both MCP and MPP in the same website environment. Consequently, some consumers may make an unplanned MCP purchase, while others may make a planned MCP purchase. This study explores the factors that are associated with consumers’ decisions to choose an MCP shopping activity over an MPP shopping activity. The findings indicate that, far from burdening the selection process, an extensive assortment of products and features is essential in attracting consumers. In addition, because of the perceived risk of choosing MCP, past experience is also a critical factor in the MCP shopping process.