Purpose

This study aims to investigate the impacts of service category (utilitarian vs hedonic) on chosen degree of uniqueness (CDOU) and consumers' willingness to pay more (WTPM), as well as the moderating roles of consumers' narcissism trait (high vs low) and processing mode (rational vs experiential) on the relationship between service category and CDOU.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducts one online experiment-questionnaire study and one between-subject lab experiment to test the hypotheses.

Findings

This study finds that consumers are more likely to choose unique choices in hedonic service customization. Consumers' CDOU has a positive effect on their attitudes toward WTPM. In addition, consumers' processing mode moderates the relationship between service category and CDOU.

Practical implications

The findings provide new insights into better understanding the factors affecting the choice of service customization and have significant practical implications. First, consumers' different desire for uniqueness of different service should not be neglected when examining the values of service customization. Second, high-level CDOU is quite prevalent for hedonic (vs utilitarian) service customization, especially for consumers with experiential processing mode.

Originality/value

While previous studies state “need for uniqueness” as a key characteristic of product customization in general, we extend it to intangible service customization and connect it with consumers' WTPM. In addition, the moderating role of individual trait and decision-making processing mode is also checked. Thus, the findings refine the existing understanding of the relationship between uniqueness and service customization.

中文翻译：

---

服务品类、消费者自恋及加工方式对服务定制消费的影响

目的

本研究旨在调查服务类别（功利主义与享乐主义）对选择的独特性程度（CDOU）和消费者支付更多意愿（WTPM）的影响，以及消费者自恋特质（高与低）的调节作用服务类别与 CDOU 关系的处理方式（理性 vs 体验）。

设计/方法/方法

本研究进行了一项在线实验问卷研究和一项受试者间实验室实验来检验假设。

发现

本研究发现，消费者在享乐服务定制中更有可能选择独特的选择。消费者的 CDOU 对其对 WTPM 的态度有积极影响。此外，消费者的处理方式调节了服务类别和CDOU 之间的关系。

实际影响

这些发现为更好地理解影响服务定制选择的因素提供了新的见解，并具有重要的实际意义。首先，在考察服务定制的价值时，不应忽视消费者对不同服务的独特性的不同需求。其次，高级CDOU对于享乐（vs功利）服务定制非常普遍，特别是对于具有体验处理模式的消费者。

原创性/价值

虽然之前的研究将“对独特性的需求”描述为一般产品定制的关键特征，但我们将其扩展到无形服务定制并将其与消费者的 WTPM 联系起来。此外，还检查了个体特质和决策处理模式的调节作用。因此，研究结果完善了对独特性和服务定制之间关系的现有理解。