Abstract
This research intends to understand the acceptance of online mass-customized athletic shoes among college students through applying the theory of reasoned action with a focus on whether utilitarian value and need for uniqueness influence favorable attitude formation differently. The questionnaires were distributed to 260 college students in a major southeastern US university using extra class credit as participation incentive. SPSS 23.0 and SPSS Amos 23 were used in data analysis. Structural equation modeling with a path comparison were used to assess construct validity and test the proposed hypotheses and conceptual framework. Results showed that college students’ acceptance and purchase intention could be predicted by attitudes and subjective norm. In addition to perceived security of the online environment, utilitarian value and need for uniqueness equally facilitated formation of favorable attitude toward acceptance of online mass-customized athletic shoes among college students. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as the limitations of the study are further discussed.
Highlights
Mass-customization (MC), which gives customers the option to customize certain features of a product within a mass-production structure, has been identified as an important competitive advantage (Grimai and Guerlain 2014; Salvador et al 2009)
This study focuses on understanding the extent to which college students are willing to purchase online mass-customized athletic shoes, with an emphasis on examining consumers’ attitudes towards using online MC and what preferred online MC features drive their acceptance of online mass-customized athletic shoes
theory of reasoned action (TRA) served as the overarching theoretical framework by which we investigated the effect of the attitude of using online MC and subjective norms (SN) towards the intention to purchase online mass-customized athletic shoes
Summary
Mass-customization (MC), which gives customers the option to customize certain features of a product within a mass-production structure, has been identified as an important competitive advantage (Grimai and Guerlain 2014; Salvador et al 2009). Nike was the first company to introduce its “NIKEiD” customization program in 1998 (Moser et al 2006), followed by its major competitor Adidas with the “mi-Adidas” program in 2000 (Baena 2016). Continuing with this trend, established athletic shoe companies such as New Balance and Reebok started their MC programs by offering mass-customized athletic shoes. By offering online MC programs, companies are able to sell their athletic shoes directly to consumers, establish effective communication, and increase their online presence (Flynn and Vencat 2012). Since the development and application of MC programs for
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