Customization is a megatrend in today’s economy
and enables customers to buy products that meet their needs.
However, customization offers many more advantages. Thus,
a wide range of studies has attempted to analyze
customization. Unfortunately, these studies are either limited
to physical products or a particular effect of customization.
Moreover, there is no comparison of physical products and
software. We close this gap by merging the results of existing
studies. This comprehensive overview on the advantages of
software customization in the Business to Consumer (B2C)
area helps to explain the megatrend. Additionally, we highlight
challenges that should be addressed by future research. Our
results show that software customization is beneficial for
customers and companies in numerous ways. Due to its
characteristics, the immaterial product software is highly
suitable for customization. However, our analysis highlights
the great need for future research to facilitate software
customization.