In mature markets, heavy competition has a commoditizing effect, and customers become increasingly fixated on price. When marketers refer to “commoditization,” they typically mean diminishing differences among offerings. But it's also a psychological state: Consumers fall into a mind-set...

The benefits of customization are not always self-evident to consumers who seek to minimize decision costs or are generally uncertain of what they really want. We argue that the mere posting of a starting price can increase a consumer's readiness to appreciate customized goods. We discuss this...