Zusammenfassung
Viele Unternehmen haben in den letzten Jahren die Anzahl der Varianten ihrer Produkte erhöht, um die vielfältigen Wünsche ihrer Kunden besser befriedigen zu können. Auf Basis entscheidungstheoretischer Überlegungen lassen sich Bedingungen formulieren, unter denen eine Ausdehnung der Variantenzahl positiv bzw. negativ auf das Verhalten der Kunden wirkt. Dabei spielt der Ansatz der „attribute alignability“ eine zentrale Rolle. Anhand einer empirischen Studie, in deren Mittelpunkt ein Car-Konfigurator steht, kann gezeigt werden, wie die Anzahl von Produktvarianten das Entscheidungsverhalten der Individuen beeinflusst. In diesem Zusammenhang kommt es entscheidend darauf an, ob die Produktattribute „alignable“ oder „non-alignable“ sind. Hieraus ergeben sich konkrete Hinweise für die kundenorientierte Gestaltung von Produktsortimenten, die aus einem Grundprodukt und mehreren daraus abgeleiteten Varianten bestehen.
Summary
In recent years, many companies have increased the numbers of varieties of products they bring to market in order better to satisfy their customers’ diverse preferences. Based on decision-theoretical considerations, it is possible to posit circumstances under which expanding the number of varieties will positively or negatively affect consumer behavior. In this connection, the attribute alignability approach plays a central role. How the number of product varieties influences individuals’ decision-making behavior can be shown by means of an empirical study centering around a car configurator. What emerges as the decisive factor in this connection is whether the product attributes in question are alignable or non-alignable. For the practician in the field, this yields concrete indications for customer-oriented design of product lines consisting of a basic product and several varieties derived from it. For the theorist, the findings provide an impression of how attribute alignability relates to the perception and evaluation of product ranges by individuals.
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Herrmann, A., Schaffner, D. & Heitmann, M. Individuelles Entscheidungsverhalten bei Variantenvielfalt — die Wirkung der „attribute alignability“. Z. Betriebswirtsch 76, 309–337 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-006-0013-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-006-0013-0