“Do consumers want to design unique products on the internet? A ...

Figure 1: Production Methods - Comparison between Cus<strong>to</strong>mer Involvement & Quantity
Produced
MP was focused on creating economies of scale by standardising manufacturing, in LP
these economies came from streamlining the production process with suppliers. MC
however is not insular or internally focused along the value chain, instead it looks
externally <strong>to</strong> get greater cus<strong>to</strong>mer involvement, earlier. This changes the process from a
production-push <strong>to</strong> a demand-pull (Economist 2001; Agrawal et al 2001) market. Rather
than trying <strong>to</strong> sell a product you have already produced, you have already sold the
product before you’ve created it (Rifkin 1994). As figure 1 shows the cus<strong>to</strong>mer
involvement is greatly increased while the quantity produced is often just one unit.
The inherent complexity of combining the different approaches of “mass” and
“cus<strong>to</strong>misation” in<strong>to</strong> one profitable and successful business model may explain why MC
has not had business impact that was anticipated (Lee et al 1999) since the ideas
conception more than 25 years ago, with many business “failing miserably <strong>to</strong> get the
balance right” (Kotler and Armstrong 1999).
Adam Fletcher – Do <strong>consumers</strong> <strong>want</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>design</strong> <strong>unique</strong> product on the internet.
2006
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