Sustainability nudges in the context of customer co-design for consumer electronics

Stephan Hankammer,Robin Kleer,Frank T. Piller

doi:10.1007/s11573-020-01020-x

Abstract

In this study, we shed light on the unexplored potential of customer co-design in a mass customization (MC) setting to contribute to the promotion of sustainable consumption. We theoretically derive and empirically test several opportunities for companies to improve sustainable consumption and production in a joint effort with consumers. Our research bridges between the MC and the sustainability literature and shows that MC enables consumers to cohere attitude and action, based on individual sustainability preferences. We empirically assess whether MC companies can nudge their customers successfully towards more sustainable choices by designing sustainability-based starting solutions (Study 1) and by providing transparent sustainability information (Study 2) in MC configuration systems. We do so by portraying a simulated online buying process of a customizable TV with a realistic web-based product configurator. We find that sustainable defaults can play a significant role in promoting sustainable consumption, while providing detailed sustainability information does not show an effect. To get more insights into our results, we discuss the results on a supplementary qualitative analysis based on think-aloud consumer tests (Study 3), revealing several suggestions for further research. Using these findings, we revisit sustainability information in Study 4 and find that intuitive labels significantly influence consumers to choose more sustainably.

Highlights

Progress in production and information technology goes along with great possibilities for personalized production meeting individual consumer needs (Bughin et al 2013)
We present the results of two consumer choice experiments with a realistic product configurator for television sets (TVs), embedded in an online-survey, 1 3 followed by a third, qualitative study to revisit the results of the two experiments, and a final choice experiment reconsidering and advancing one of the previous experiments in a modified manner
Together with a large European manufacturer of TVs and a European research consortium consisting of experts in the field of environmental sustainability, supply chain management, industrial design, and mass customization (MC), we developed and prepared an MC product offering that enabled participants to customize a TV in six different areas, 19 different customization categories with 2–5 different options (e.g., 49 inch or 55 inch) resulting in 8,847,360 possible different TV combinations

Summary

Introduction

Progress in production and information technology goes along with great possibilities for personalized production meeting individual consumer needs (Bughin et al 2013). The interaction between the MC company and its customers, the co-design process in which consumers customize the product according to their individual needs, is an essential factor in marketing mass customized products effectively (Salvador et al 2009). This phase is especially important as they determine the preference fit of the self-designed product (Franke et al 2010). The urgency to study ways to engage sustainable consumption increases (Wang et al 2014) This is especially the case because consumption behavior has shifted away from the paradigm of satisfying daily needs towards a paradigm that regards consumption as a tool for self-realization and self-identification (Firat 1991; Honneth 2004). To study how sustainable consumption can be achieved, we, need to look at the individual decision-making process of consumers

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