A taxonomy of customers’ characteristics influencing product personalisation

Over the last two decades, the concept of product personalisation has received increased attention from both academia and industry. Recent developments in IT systems and digital fabrication technologies have made product personalisation not only technically doable but also economically profitable. Over the years, several studies have explored how customers’ characteristics can affect product personalisation. These efforts have led to a multitude of variables being proposed and studied. This paper aims to reconcile these contributions by collating the customers’ characteristics that affect product personalisation into a unified taxonomy. This taxonomy is grounded on the analysis of 56 papers. 21 costumers’ characteristics have been identified and organised under 5 factors. The taxonomy clarifies which customers characteristics have been studied so far and which have been proved to influence the design of personalisable products and experiences. The taxonomy also provides the groundwork for the development of design methodologies and tools that can support designers in delivering successful personalisation experiences.