Innovatively communicating research can be done in different ways and is crucial to send our academic work into the world. Building bridges between theory and practice is what E&I stands for, which is why Prof. Franke recently joined the JM Buzz Deep Dive podcast on the topic of Design in Business. Together with Prof. Krause (EBS), he investigated Consumer Self-Design Abandonment and shared some of the important insights. Listen to the podcast here, and find out what their research is about below: 

What does that mean? 

Many studies have found that allowing customers to self-design products using customization configurators generates high value for these customers but in practice, high abandonment rates cast doubt on these findings. In their research, this contradiction is resolved by analyzing consumers’ experiences during the creative process.

What exactly happens in the creative process?

Initial high expectations prompt consumers to start self-designing in the first place, but they quickly find, to their frustration, that their design solutions are less attractive and the self-designing process is less enjoyable than they originally thought. Unaware that their enjoyment of the process would ultimately increase if they persisted through this phase, they abandon the self-design process altogether. This problematic pattern can be managed by providing social feedback during the self-design process, which is an important finding to enhance customization and thereby the value for customers.