Exploring the “I” in Mass Customization Decisions: Narcissists’ Proclivity Towards Configuring Unique Products

Mass customization (MC) systems allow firms’ customers to create unique, self-designed products (Franke and Schreier 2008; Moreau and Herd 2010). Field evidence, however, indicates that only a minority of consumers use the full individualization potential of these systems by configuring products with unique options (e.g., configuring a red pearl car instead of a black one). This consumer segment is of considerable interest to firms given their potential impact on product diffusion and enhanced profit margins. Therefore, the present research aims to better understand the nature of this important segment. Who are the consumers who select unique product options when mass-customizing a product and what motivates them to do so? Initial conceptual research suggests that answers to these questions may reside within the narcissistic personality trait (Sedikides et al. 2007). In the light of recent research showing that narcissistic consumers have a strong preference for scarce products (Lee and Seidle 2012), our general premise is that some consumers who configure unique products may be doing so in order to be “special,” as an expression of their narcissistic personalities. In particular, we argue that narcissistic consumers are anxious to stand out in order to appear unique, as well as to command attention and admiration of others, with both processes influencing product configuration. For narcissists, the purchase and consumption of unique products is likely to serve as an important interpersonal strategy to project a colorful lifestyle to the public (Chatterjee and Hambrick 2007). In terms of marketing, narcissistic consumers should be more likely to desire unique product options and thus to configure distinctive products via MC systems, in order to act in accordance with their narcissistic personalities. To date, only little research has addressed the narcissistic consumer at the empirical level. In response, we explored the impact of consumers’ narcissistic tendencies on the uniqueness of configured products.