Abstract
A proposal is made that one way to compete effectively in the 21st century is to meet customers’ needs over time better than the competition by offering a high-variety product line. More variety in a product line can make it more likely that each consumer finds exactly the option he or she desires (customization strategy). In addition, more variety in a product line can allow each consumer to enjoy a diversity of options over time (variety-seeking strategy). Other issues such as profitability, cost considerations, how much variety to offer and where in the delivery chain to offer it, and when does too much variety cause confusion or overload are also discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alsop, Stewart. 1997. “Please! Leave Computing to the Experts!”Fortune, 135 (June 23): 149–150.
Bawa, Kapil, Jane T. Landwehr, and Aradhna Krishna. 1989. “Consumer Response to Retailers’ Marketing Environments: An Analysis of Coffee Purchase Data.”Journal of Retailing 65 (Winter): 471–495.
Broniarczyk, Susan, and Leigh McAlister. 1994. “Arranging Category Displays to Be Congruent With Consumers’ Mental Representations: The Effect of Choice of Perceptions of Variety Offered.” Paper presented at the Association for Consumer Research Annual Conference, October, Boston, MA.
Gilmore, James H., and B. Joseph Pine II. 1997. “The Four Faces of Mass Customization.”Harvard Business Review, January–February, pp. 91–101.
Givon, Moshe. 1984. “Variety-Seeking Through Brand Switching.”Marketing Science 3 (Winter): 1–22.
Glazer, Rashi, Barbara E. Kahn, and William Moore. 1991. “The Influence of External Constraints on Brand Choice: The Lone Alternative Effect.”Journal of Consumer Research 17:119–127.
Hagel, John III, and Jeffrey F. Rayport. 1997. “The Coming Battle for Customer Information.”Harvard Business Review, January–February, pp. 53–65.
Huffman, Cynthia, and Barbara E. Kahn. 1997. “Variety for Sale: Mass Customization or Mass Confusion?” Presentation for MSI Conference, Too Much or Too Little? Managing Product Assortment from Production to Point of Purchase, March 13–14, Scottsdale, AZ. (also a Wharton School working paper)
Isen, Alice M. 1987. “Positive Affect, Cognitive Processes, and Social Behavior.” InAdvances in Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 20. Ed. Leonard Berkowitz. New York: Academic Press, 203–253.
Kahn, Barbara E. 1995. “Consumer Variety-Seeking Among Goods and Services.”Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 2(3): 139–148.
Kahn, Barbara E. and Cynthia Huffman. 1998. “Mass Customization.” InThe Handbook of Technology Management. Ed. R. C. Dorf. CRC Press.
—, and Alice M. Isen. 1993. “The Influence of Positive Affect on Variety-Seeking Behavior Among Safe, Enjoyable Products.”Journal of Consumer Research, September, pp. 257–270.
—, Manohar U. Kalwani, and Donald G. Morrison. 1986. “Measuring Variety-Seeking and Reinforcement Behaviors Using Panel Data.”Journal of Marketing Research 23(May): 89–100.
—, and Donald R. Lehmann. 1991. “Modeling Choice Among Assortments.”Journal of Retailing 67(Fall): 274–299.
Kohli, Ajay K., and Bernard J. Jaworski. 1990. “Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Propositions, and Managerial Implications.”Journal of Marketing 54(April): 1–18.
Lampel, Joseph, and Henry Mintzberg. 1996. “Customizing Customization.”Sloan Management Review 38 (Fall): 21–30.
McAlister, Leigh, and Edgar A. Pessemier. 1982. “Variety-Seeking Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Review.”Journal of Consumer Research 9(December): 311–322.
Menon, Satya, and Barbara E. Kahn. 1995. “The Impact of Context on Variety-Seeking in Product Choices.”Journal of Consumer Research 22(December): 285–295.
——. 1997. “Cross-Category Effects of Stimulation on the Shopping Experience: An Application to Internet Shopping.” The Wharton School Working Paper 19104 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Mitchell, D. J., B. E. Kahn, and S. C. Knasko. 1995. “There’s Something in the Air: Effects of Congruent and Incongruent Ambient Odor on Consumer Decision-Making.”Journal of Consumer Research 22 (September): 229–238.
Narisetti, Raju. 1997. “Too Many Choices: P&G, Seeing Shoppers Were Confused, Overhauls Marketing.”Wall Street Journal, January 15, pp. A1, A8.
Pine, B. Joseph II. 1993.Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Sawhney, Mohanbir, and Kamalini Ramdas. 1997. “A Cross-Functional Approach to Evaluating Line Extensions for Assembled Products.” Presentation for MSI Conference, Too Much or Too Little? Managing Product Assortment From Production to Point of Purchase, March 13–14, Scottsdale, AZ.
Van Trijp, Hans. 1995. “Variety-Seeking in Product Choice Behavior: Theory With Applications in the Food Domain.” Thesis, Landbouwuniversiteit Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Williard Bishop Consulting, Ltd., and Information Resources, Inc. 1993. “Variety or Duplication: A Process to Know Where You Stand.” Report prepared for the Food Marketing Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Barbara E. Kahn is a professor of marketing at The Wharton School. She received a B.A. in English literature at the University of Rochester, and an M.B.A. in marketing and statistics and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in marketing from Columbia University. Professor Kahn has over two dozen publications. These include journal articles in marketing, consumer research, retailing, and statistics. She has also recently publishedGrocery Revolution: The New Focus on the Consumer (Addison-Wesley, 1997) with Leigh McAlister. Professor Kahn is on the editorial board ofJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, andMarketing Letters, and on the policy board ofJournal of Consumer Research. She has consulted with various services, telecommunications, and consumer package goods companies. She was also the Hakuhodo Advertising Agency Visiting Scholar at University of Tokyo, summer 1993, and a Visiting Academic at University of Sydney, July through December 1996.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kahn, B.E. Dynamic relationships with customers: High-variety strategies. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 26, 45–53 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070398261005
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070398261005