Recent advances in manufacturing and communication technology have made it possible for firms to offer products that are personalized to individual customers’ specifications. While personalizing products leads to benefits for firms, it also requires significant resources, calling into question the financial efficacy of this practice. This situation is especially salient in the pharmaceutical industry, where drugs are personalized to individuals. This type of medicine is expected to account for approximately 50% of drug spending in the U.S. market by 2022; however, the rising costs of producing and delivering such medications make their viability uncertain. In this study, we present a framework that conceptualizes a nonlinear inverted U‐shaped relationship between product personalization and financial performance. We further investigate the role of supply‐chain disintermediation in enhancing the benefits of personalization. Analysis of data from the pharmaceutical industry confirms that product personalization improves financial performance only up to a point, beyond which firms experience negative performance effects. Furthermore, supply‐chain disintermediation moderates this relationship such that the inverted U‐shape is steeper with increasing disintermediation levels. Together, these findings provide important guidelines for managers formulating their firms’ product personalization strategies.

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产品个性化和公司绩效：制药行业的经验分析

制造和通信技术的最新进展使公司有可能提供根据个人客户的规格个性化的产品。虽然个性化产品可以为公司带来收益，但它也需要大量资源，这使这种做法的财务效力受到质疑。这种情况在制药行业中尤为突出，在这种行业中，药物是针对个人的。预计到2022年，这类药物将占美国市场药物支出的大约50％；然而，生产和交付这种药物的成本不断上升，使得其生存能力不确定。在本研究中，我们提出了一个框架，该框架概念化了产品个性化和财务绩效之间的非线性倒U型关系。我们进一步研究了供应链去中介化在增强个性化收益方面的作用。对制药行业数据的分析证实，产品个性化只能在一定程度上提高财务绩效，超过该水平企业将受到负面绩效影响。此外，供应链去中介化缓和了这种关系，从而随着去中介化水平的提高，倒U形更加陡峭。这些发现共同为经理制定公司产品个性化策略提供了重要指导。除此之外，企业会遭受负面的绩效影响。此外，供应链去中介化缓和了这种关系，从而随着去中介化水平的提高，倒U形更加陡峭。这些发现共同为经理制定公司产品个性化策略提供了重要指导。除此之外，企业会遭受负面的绩效影响。此外，供应链去中介化缓和了这种关系，从而随着去中介化水平的提高，倒U形更加陡峭。这些发现共同为经理制定公司产品个性化策略提供了重要指导。