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Adam Fletcher – Do consumers want to design unique product on the internet.20061

“Do consumers want to design unique products on theinternet? A study of the online Virtual Community of Threadless.com and their attitudes to MassCustomisation, Mass Production and CollaborativeDesign”.

Adam Fletcher This Dissertation is submitted in part-fulfillment of the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Business Information Systems Nottingham Trent University, 2006

Adam Fletcher – Do consumers want to design unique product on the internet.20062This is the public version of the dissertation made available athttp://www.hiphipuk.co.uk

About the Author

Adam Fletcher – adamfletcher@gmail.com Founder of http://www.hiphipuk.co.uk Age: 23Based: Leipzig/LondonTel: + 49 163 453 9016I would be interested in participating in further research topics in this field of interest.I'd be really happy to offer (mostly bad) advice to anyone undertaking research in asimilar area.Copyright: This research is offered under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives (basically just cite me if you use any of this).Thanks!

Adam Fletcher – Do consumers want to design unique product on the internet.20063

Abstract

Mass Customisation has been portrayed as the ultimate form of marketing and the“business opportunity of the next millennium”. However implementing a businessapproach which balances the mass with customisation is difficult with few successstories. This thesis presents the results of a case study undertaken with the online t-shirt manufacturer Threadless and its Virtual Community. The literary assumptionthat consumers want unique products, following recent renewed interest in MassCustomisation has prompted this research. The aim of this study was to look at anindustry where it is technically possible to deliver a “pure” Mass Customisationexperience. Threadless’ business model instead aggregates user’s opinions of user submitted designs and manufacturers the most popular. This studies looks at why thismodel is an attractive proposition for customers and for Threadless. The secondaryfocus of this study was to see how much collaboration occurred within Threadless’Virtual Community, relating this back to the broader User Innovation & MassCustomisation literature.Research was conducted using an online questionnaire completed by members of theThreadless Virtual Community and a participant observation of messageboard postsand replies conducted over a seven day period. The Threadless community werefound to (not as the literature would have predicted) willing purchase a product whichwas not unique even when other companies offered the opportunity to create a unique product. This was because of the innovative nature of the products design. Thecommunity valued this innovation over involvement in the design process. This thesis proposes that as the literature suggests the Internet eases the process for receivinginformation from customers on their wants and needs. This supports the 1-1 customer and supplier relationship needed for Mass Customisation. However it proposes thatthis same technology also facilitates communication between customers andaggregation of their needs. This can help overcome some manufacturer inefficienciesin Mass Customisation, however, it also suggests that a model combining theindividualisation of Mass Customisation and the personalisation of Mass or NicheProduction with high customer involvement may better suit both parties.

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Do consumers want to design unique products on the internet? A study of the online Virtual Community of Threadless.com and their attitudes to Mass Customisation, Mass Production and Collaborative Design

A study of the online Virtual Community of Threadless.com and their attitudes to Mass Customisation, Mass Production and Collaborative Design.

1. How much collaboration is th... (More) A study of the online Virtual Community of Threadless.com and their attitudes to Mass Customisation, Mass Production and Collaborative Design.

1. How much collaboration is there between designers and the rest of community prior to submitting designs?

2. What factors stop members submitting designs?

3. What is it that keeps community members visiting and interacting with Threadless and its VC?

4. Does this business model support aggregation of user requirements? If so, how?

5. Sawhney and Prandelli (2000) believe that a business model that combines communities into product development empowers peripheral players, how much evidence of this can seen at Threadless?

6. Why would consumer would buy a limited product from Threadless when rival companies can offer them the chance to design a unique product.

The conclusions in brief were:

1. Respondents placed innovative designs over involvement in the design process as the key reason they buy from Threadless. They were willing to trade off uniqueness in exchange for receiving product of a higher standard that they would have been able to produce.

2. The second key finding observed in the participant observation was the willingness of the VC to support each other and offer help and advice throughout the design process. This support can help overcome the problems that customers have during the MC process and reduce the support the manufacturer has to provide.

3. The final conclusion drawn from this research is that while technology is cited as removing communication barriers between manufacturers and customers, making it easier to receive want information, it is also suggested that this same technology can facilitate the sharing of want information amongst customers.

4. Threadless has developed a mechanism to aggregate this information and let its customers decide collaboratively the products which best meet their aggregated needs. It's proposed that this reduces the current disconnect between a manufacturers desire for production efficiency and reliable demand and a customers desire for involvement and unique (or at least limited) products. This may have implications for manufacturers trying fruitlessly to offer the uniqueness that the MC literature proclaims customers want, when an equally effective albeit less radical approach may be available. (Less)

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Category:	Research
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Upload Date:	04/19/2009
Copyright:	Attribution Non-commercial
Tags:	tshirts crowdsourcing graphic design Open Innovation virtual communities (more tags) tshirts crowdsourcing graphic design Open Innovation virtual communities mass customization spreadshirt threadless mass customisation design contests (fewer)