Kim Huat Goh

Seller Strategies for Differentiation in Highly Competitive Online Auction Markets

We explore the issue of seller differentiation in competitive auction environments, where most sellers have a high percentage of positive feedback. Analyzing a set of eBay auction listings for identical products, we find evidence that the use of visibility-enhancing and quality-signaling discretionary auction attributes affects auction outcomes throughout the auction process (i.e., listing views, bids, and price premiums). We also find strong evidence that the number of reputable sellers in an auction marketplace moderates the effects of these discretionary attributes on auction outcomes. Specifically, as auction environments become more competitive, these attributes become more effective tools for differentiation, whereas seller feedback scores become less effective. Furthermore, sellers appear to select their strategies for employing these discretionary attributes based on both their prior experience and the number of experienced reputable sellers in the market. These findings suggest that in addition to relying on feedback scores, online sellers must take a more strategic approach in the selection of discretionary attributes in their auction listings.

The Framing Effects of Multipart Pricing on Consumer Purchasing Behavior of Customized Information Good Bundles

Applying behavioral economic theories, we hypothesize that consumers have sticky reference prices for individual information goods, but their perceived value for customizable bundle offers can be significantly influenced by the framing of a multipart pricing scheme. The potential impacts of these framing effects are measurable changes in consumer behavior and sales outcomes. We conducted a series of behavioral experiments and a large-scale natural field experiment involving actual purchases of customized information good bundles to confirm and analyze the hypothesized effects. The results demonstrate a consumers willingness to purchase a customized bundle of information goods, the size of the resulting bundling, and the consumers perceptions of the transaction are each significantly influenced by the design of the multipart pricing scheme. These results hold even when the final price and size of a customized bundle are the same across differing schemes. We discuss the potential tradeoffs in economic outcomes that result from price framing (e.g., likelihood of sale versus size of purchased bundles) and the implications for information good retailers.

Firm Strategy and the Internet in U.S. Commercial Banking

As information technology (IT) becomes more accessible, sustaining any competitive advantage from it becomes challenging. This has caused some critics to dismiss IT as a less valuable resource. We argue that, in addition to being able to generate strategic advantage, IT should also be viewed as a strategic necessity that prevents competitive disadvantage in rapidly changing business environments. We test a set of hypotheses on strategic advantage and strategic necessity in the context of Internet banking investments for the population of U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) banks from 2003 to 2005. We seek to understand whether their IT investments were made as a strategic choice or as a result of strategic necessity. Our econometric analysis suggests that IT investments (1) were made to complement firm strategy for strategic advantage as well as due to strategic necessity, and (2) paid off by enhancing firm performance and addressing the issue of strategic necessity. In addition, our analysis reveals the simultaneous relationship between performance and IT investments: high-performing banking firms appear to have been more likely to invest in IT. The econometric analysis methods that we employ made it possible for us to state all of our quantitative findings for the FDIC data to be stated after adjusting for this endogeneity through simultaneity.

Work harder or work smarter? information technology and resource allocation in healthcare processes

While the impacts of health information technology (HIT) are widely studied, prior research presents mixed findings. In this study, a granular examination of the impact of HIT systems on how resources are allocated to healthcare tasks and processes was undertaken. A longitudinal field study that combined interview, archival, observation, and survey data was conducted. The effects of telemedicine on the input allocative efficiency of the healthcare process through the reallocation of organizational resources was evaluated and an assessment of whether gains in allocative efficiency resulted in improvements in organizational outcomes, such as lower hospitalization rates and lower uncertainty in patient wait time, was conducted. Applying the theory of swift and even flow, our findings suggest that the gains in allocative efficiency for some processes are associated with improved organizational outcomes.

Contrast effects in online auctions

Abstract Prior research has shown online auction features can serve as information cues and affect consumers’ willingness-to-pay. We argue that auctions are not only affected by their information cues but also by contrasting, peripheral information cues from adjacent auction listings. Applying contrast effects theory, we examined the moderating effects of time urgency and persuasion intent on the processing of contrasting peripheral information from adjacent auctions. Using two controlled experiments and an empirical field study, we showed that time urgency experienced by bidders in online auctions resulted in increased heuristic processing of contrasting information from adjacent auction listings. Under time pressure, bidders were more likely to be affected by this contrasting peripheral information. We also found that bidders will discount contrasting peripheral information if they perceive salient persuasion intents in advertising presented by the auctioneers. The resulting contrast effects ultimately lead to changes in willingness-to-pay and underscore the importance of peripheral information from adjacent auctions in impacting auction outcomes.

Quantifying IT Value Latency: The Case of the Financial Services Industry

Both the academia and practice recognize that information technology (IT) investments may not yield immediate benefits. Nevertheless, there has been a lack of methodological developments to effectively measure IT value in the presence of value latency. We consider the sources of value latency and develop a time-series measurement methodology based on intervention analysis to measure the temporal value flows from IT investments. We apply the quantitative measurement methodology to six publicly-listed financial institutions that invest in customer relationship management (CRM) technologies to illustrate how it works. Within the bounds of our sample, we show that IT value latency exists and that firms demonstrate different patterns for the accrual of lagged value from IT investments. Our results offer new managerial thinking for IT benefits management.

Attracting Versus Sustaining Attention in the Information Economy

Attention is a scarce resource possessed by a person. In the information age, we observe the rapid increase of information available and the decrease of individual’s attention. This calls for efficient attention allocation amidst information overload. Prior literature suggests attention allocation is a two-stage process – attracting attention and sustaining attention. In this study, we refer to attention theory from psychology literature to explore what attract users’ attention and why users stay on with particular social media content. We use YouTube as the empirical setting to differentiate attracting attention from sustaining attention and examine factors that influence attracting and sustaining attention. The results of this study show that factors that attract attention are different from the factors that will sustain attention in the information age.

Investments in internet-based innovations for financial services: strategic advantage or strategic necessity?

Information technology (IT) is a key resource for the success of financial services firms. IT plays the role of a driver of innovation and strategic advantage, but also ensures a firm does not suffer strategic disadvantage, and is able to maintain a strong defensive position for its customers and market share. This article presents propositions related to the deployment of internet banking technology innovations among US commercial banks in the 2000s. The goal is to understand what motivated the banks to invest and what the impacts were. The research recognises that some banks may have been in a position to achieve strategic advantage, while others were doing so for more defensive reasons. The emphasis is on managerial interpretation of how to separate strategic advantage versus strategic necessity in the assessment of investment in this area of financial IS and technology innovations, and what was learned as a result.

Product Versus Non-product Oriented Social Media Platforms: Online Consumer Opinion Composition and Evolution

This article examines how different social media platforms affect opinion composition and evolution. We differentiate between product and non-product oriented outlets as they differ in the salience of social cues, thus resulting in distinct user behaviours. We extend prior research in several ways. First, comparing between comments from different types of social media platforms, we show that the product oriented outlets display a tendency to attract polarized opinions. Second, we find that similarity of online comments increases over time, suggesting opinion convergence. Lastly, product oriented outlets facilitate faster assimilation of opinions within the site compared to non-product oriented outlets.

Special Issue: Information Economics and Competitive Strategy

Reference EPFL-ARTICLE-195632doi:10.2753/Mis0742-1222300200View record in Web of Science Record created on 2014-01-09, modified on 2016-08-09