An Aldersonian explanation of twenty‐first century “mass customization”

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate four of Alderson's key concepts to show how they explain mass customization and extend traditional consumer goods classifications. The four concepts are: heterogeneous markets, transvections, the principle of postponement, and routinized transactions.

Design/methodology/approach

In this exploratory paper, Alderson's main concepts are compared and contrasted with today's marketing phenomena and are used for updating traditional consumer goods categorizations.

Findings

The main concepts of Aldersonian theory discussed in the paper – heterogeneous markets, transvections, postponement and routinized transactions – are a remarkably good fit with today's “mass customization” and logically lead to an enhanced of definition of consumer goods classifications.

Research limitations/implications

This is a conceptual paper meant to emphasize the apparent explanatory power of Alderson's concepts to today's marketing phenomena. Formal propositions have not been developed and tested.

Practical implications

Traditional classifications of goods no longer accurately explain marketing phenomena arising from the growth of the internet and mass customization. Alderson's concepts provide an effective framework for explaining current phenomena and extending outmoded models.

Originality/value

The four main Alderson concepts evaluated in this paper have not been emphasized as a group before, nor have they been utilized to help explain mass customization and extend traditional consumer goods classifications.

Citation

Goodrich, K. (2007), "An Aldersonian explanation of twenty‐first century “mass customization”", European Business Review, Vol. 19 No. 6, pp. 495-507. https://doi.org/10.1108/09555340710830127