The effect of default option on customer decision behavior in product customization

Abstract

A lot of companies apply online configuration interface to enable customers to customize their desired products. In such systems, default options are pre-specified for levels of product features by the manufacturer or dealer. This article analyzes how the default options will affect customer decisions in product customization process. The major goal of this study is to examine the effect of framing approach (no default, the highest defaults and the lowest defaults) on consumers' choice. A situational experiment in the context of laptops customization produces the following findings: (1) compared with the no default, customers tend to customize higher total price when they are treated with highest defaults framing and lower total price with the lowest defaults framing; (2) framing approach and product attribute types impose a significant interaction effect. In the situation with the highest defaults, the default options of essential attributes are more likely to be chosen than that of complementary attributes; in the lowest defaults framing, the default options of complementary attributes are more likely to be chosen; (3) compared with experts, novices will accept more default options, no matter with which framing. Based on these findings, this paper further discusses the theoretical significance and application value. The suggestions are offered to the enterprises about how to design effective products customization interface to create more profits.