Managing customer heterogeneity (CH), that is, differences among customers (e.g., consumers, business firms) is an important, yet challenging consideration for firms seeking innovation-based competitive advantage. To facilitate better understanding of the opportunities and challenges that CH presents, we conducted a systematic review of the literature linking CH with innovation-based competitive advantage. Initially, we synthesize extant CH literature to propose a multidimensional conceptualization and definition of the CH construct comprising three dimensions: customer need heterogeneity, customer knowledge heterogeneity, and customer relationship heterogeneity. Customer need heterogeneity refers to the extent to which customers’ needs/preferences for a product offering differ from each other, customer knowledge heterogeneity indicates the degree to which customers have different knowledge levels regarding how their needs can be satisfied, and customer relationship heterogeneity indicates the extent to which customers have different preferences toward engaging in relationships with the firm. Next, we present an integrative summary of the empirically tested as well as theoretically proposed links between each CH dimension and its antecedents/outcomes. Finally, we draw upon the paradox literature to identify specific tensions associated with each CH dimension and rely on the dynamic capabilities literature to suggest how these tensions can be effectively managed. Collectively, we contribute to the emerging resource-based perspective of CH by offering a propositional model of how CH can be managed for innovation-based competitive advantage.

中文翻译：

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客户异质性和基于创新的竞争战略：审查、综合和研究议程

管理客户异质性 (CH)，即客户（例如，消费者、商业公司）之间的差异是寻求基于创新的竞争优势的公司的一个重要但具有挑战性的考虑因素。为了更好地理解 CH 带来的机遇和挑战，我们对将 CH 与基于创新的竞争优势联系起来的文献进行了系统回顾。最初，我们综合现有的 CH 文献以提出 CH 构造的多维概念化和定义，包括三个维度：客户需求异质性、客户知识异质性和客户关系异质性。客户需求异质性是指客户对产品的需求/偏好彼此不同的程度，客户知识异质性表明客户对如何满足他们的需求具有不同的知识水平，客户关系异质性表明客户对与公司建立关系的偏好程度不同。接下来，我们对每个 CH 维度与其前因/结果之间的经验测试以及理论上提出的联系进行了综合总结。最后，我们利用悖论文献来确定与每个 CH 维度相关的特定紧张局势，并依靠动态能力文献来建议如何有效管理这些紧张局势。总的来说，