Can mass customization slow fast fashion down? The impact on time‐to‐disposal and willingness‐to‐pay
通过实验研究大规模定制中顾客参与环节（从使用到设计）如何影响消费者对产品的预期处置时间和支付意愿，发现越往设计端参与，处置时间越长、支付意愿越高，为快时尚的可持续转型提供双赢路径。
Abstract We experimentally investigate whether mass customization enhances sustainability and firm outcomes in a fast fashion context. Fast fashion delivers fashion trends to consumers quickly and cheaply but has detrimental effects on the environment (e.g., waste accumulation, water pollution). To mitigate these harmful effects, we examine how different points of customer involvement in mass customization affect the anticipated number of months to product disposal and willingness‐to‐pay for mass‐customized products. We employ a series of experiments and find that consumer perceptions of the degree of customization increase as the point of customer involvement shifts upstream from Use to Assembly to Fabrication to Design and that the anticipated number of months to disposal and willingness‐to‐pay increase as the point of customer involvement shifts upstream to Design . We also find that the implementation of customer involvement in mass customization matters. Overall, these results provide evidence that mass customization via Design may not only help slow fast fashion down, which has major sustainability implications, but it may also present a win‐win opportunity for both the environment and firms (in terms of the bottom line—provided, of course, that it does not have any major cost disadvantages).