The Power of Codesign to Bond Customers to Products and Companies: The Role of Toolkit Support and Creativity

• The emotional outcomes of codesign supported by mass customization are highlighted.
• The customer emotionally bonds to the company and the product when codesigning.
• The emotional bond and support from the interactive toolkit increase expenditures.

Configuration tools allow customers to codesign their products in the most extraordinary fashion to illustrate their unique identity. While research widely acknowledges the functional benefits of codesigned products, far less is known about the emotional benefits of codesign activities for the customer and the company. This research highlights the effect of codesign activities on the emotional bond between the customer and the product (i.e., customer–product attachment) as well as the customer and the company (i.e., customer–company identification). Data from an experimental study and a survey study with customers of a bicycle manufacturer show that codesign drives customer–product attachment and customer–company identification. Importantly, the studies show that the emotional bond with the company rather than that with the product boosts codesign expenditures. Investing in codesign toolkits thus pays off for companies because they drive customer–company identification and, consequently, codesign expenditures.