Koray Özpolat

Research Note---The Value of Third-Party Assurance Seals in Online Retailing: An Empirical Investigation

Third-party quality assurance seals have emerged as a prominent mechanism to reduce uncertainty and increase purchase conversion in online markets. However, systematic studies of the effectiveness of these seals are scarce. In this study, we exploit a unique data set of 9,098 shopping sessions at an online retailers website to empirically measure the value and effectiveness of assurance seals on the likelihood of purchase by shoppers. The data set is collected from a randomized field experiment conducted by a large seal provider, which enables us to infer the causal impacts of the presence of an assurance seal. We find strong evidence that the presence of the assurance seal increases the likelihood of purchase conversion. We discuss the implications of our findings for online retailers, third-party certifiers, policymakers, and researchers.

Getting the most out of third party trust seals

Electronic markets have successfully adopted third party trust seals as a self-regulatory mechanism to enhance consumer trust. While there exist many papers supporting the effectiveness of trust signals, interaction between trusts seals and contextual factors in e-commerce (e.g., value of shopping carts, number of trust seals displayed, shopper experience and retailers sales volume) is an underexplored area. In this study, we exploit a dataset of over a quarter million of online transactions across 493 online retailers collected from randomized field experiments. A large trust seal provider conducted the experiments and subsequently shared the dataset with us. Our main contribution is the demonstration of four variables moderating the effectiveness of trust seals on the likelihood of purchase completion. More specifically, our work shows that trust seals are more effective for small online retailers and new shoppers, thus serving as partial substitutes for both shopper experience and sellers sales volume. Interestingly, we find that the presence of too many (i.e., more than two) seals can lower the likelihood of purchase completion. Our findings also show that trust seals are more effective for higher value shopping carts but only in the latter stages of the shopping cycle. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for online retailers, third party certifiers, as well as for policy makers. Randomized field experiments were used to collect a dataset of 288,169 shopping transactions from 493 online retailers.Trust seals serve as partial substitutes for both shopper experience and sellers sales volume.Presence of too many (i.e., more than two) seals can lower the likelihood of purchase completion.Trust seals are more effective for higher value shopping carts but only in the latter stages of the shopping cycle.

Engaging donors in smart compassion: USAID CIDI’s Greatest Good Donation Calculator

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a game-like decision tool – “Greatest Good Donations Calculator (GGDC)”, which has been collaboratively developed by scholars from the University of Rhode Island and the USAID Center for International Disaster Information. Design/methodology/approach – The study is grounded in two streams of research – human learning through games and systems dynamics literature. The problem of “unsolicited in-kind donations” is discussed followed by the development of the GGDC. Findings – The GGDC is a game-like decision tool that informs users on some of the complexities associated with humanitarian supply chains, and the ineffective nature of unsolicited in-kind donations compared to monetary contributions when sent in response to international disasters. Research limitations/implications – The GGDC could be made more interactive and playable that could improve user engagement. The GGDC’s value to the humanitarian community and public could also be measured in other w...

Humanitarian supply chain use of cloud computing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of cloud computing (CC) use on collaboration and its ultimate impact on the agility of humanitarian supply chains. Further, this paper aims to analyze the moderating role of inter-organizational trust in the relationship between CC use and collaboration. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides an empirical assessment of CC use based on an interview analysis of 19 individuals from humanitarian organizations. A survey questionnaire is later used with 107 participants from US relief organizations. Partial least squares test is used to examine the relationships depicted in the conceptual model. Findings The results provide an account of how CC is used in a humanitarian context. Further, the results indicate that CC use has a positive and significant impact on collaboration between humanitarian organizations and their suppliers. Collaboration is found to be significantly positively associated with agility in humanitarian organizations. Research limitations/implications No study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, has empirically assessed the impact of CC use on humanitarian supply chain collaboration. This will be the first study to empirically analyze the relationships between CC use, inter-organizational trust, collaboration and agility in a humanitarian context. Practical implications This study provides a theoretically and empirically validated model depicting the relationships between CC use, collaboration, agility and inter-organizational trust in humanitarian supply chains. Humanitarian organizations can use these findings to optimize agility. Originality/value This study contributes to supply chain management research, particularly humanitarian supply chain management knowledge, by empirically examining the usefulness of CC use on collaboration and agility in the supply chain.

The Value of Online Trust Seals: Evidence from Online Retailing

Although third-party trust seals have been in use for long by online retailers, systematic studies of the effectiveness of these trust signaling mechanisms are scarce. Using a unique dataset of over a quarter million online transactions across 493 online retailers, this study seeks to empirically measure the value and effectiveness of trust seals on the likelihood of purchase by shoppers. The dataset is collected from a randomized field experiment by a large trust seal provider, which enables us to infer the causal impacts of the presence of an online trust seal. We find that the presence of the online trust seal increases the odds of completion of purchase. We further find that online trust seals serve as partial substitutes for both shopper experience and seller size. Interestingly, the effect of the number of trust seals is not linear – we find that the presence of too many seals lower completion rates. We discuss the implication of our findings for online retailers, third-party certifiers, as well as for policy makers.