Can mass customizationslowfast fashion down? The impact on time-to-disposal and willingness-to-pay
Aydin Alptekinoglu, Ashley Stadler Blank, Margaret G. Meloy, V. Daniel R. Guide Jr.
Journal of Operations Management · 2023 · Volume 69 · Issue 8
Abstract
We experimentally investigate whether mass customization enhances sustainability and firm outcomes in a fast fashion context. Fast fashion delivers fashion trends to consumers quickly and cheaply but has detrimental effects on the environment (e.g., waste accumulation, water pollution). To mitigate these harmful effects, we examine how different points of customer involvement in mass customization affect the anticipated number of months to product disposal and willingness-to-pay for mass-customized products. We employ a series of experiments and find that consumer perceptions of the degree of customization increase as the point of customer involvement shifts upstream fromUsetoAssemblytoFabricationtoDesignand that the anticipated number of months to disposal and willingness-to-pay increase as the point of customer involvement shifts upstream toDesign. We also find that the implementation of customer involvement in mass customization matters. Overall, these results provide evidence that mass customization viaDesignmay not only helpslowfast fashion down, which has major sustainability implications, but it may also present a win-win opportunity for both the environmentandfirms (in terms of the bottom line—provided, of course, that it does not have any major cost disadvantages).
Keywords
fast fashion, mass customization, point of customer involvement, product disposal, push-pull boundary, willingness-to-pay
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