Meng Su

Methods for Handling Massive Numbers of Attributes in Conjoint Analysis

Conjoint analysis is arguably the most versatile method in marketing research. As the method has been employed in practice, one serious problem has been finding ways to deal with the massive (large) numbers of attributes in conjoint analysis studies. This chapter provides a review of thirteen methods that have been applied in various contexts. We also offer our subjective assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of these methods. We find that three methods (self-explicated method, partial profiles method, and upgrading method) seem to stand out. In concluding, we offer some directions for future research.

Intention–Behavior Discrepancy of Foreign Versus Domestic Brands in Emerging Markets: The Relevance of Consumer Prior Knowledge

Most research on the performance of foreign versus domestic brands in emerging markets has examined dependent measures of product evaluation or purchase intention. However, consumers who intend to buy a product may switch to competing brands, thus displaying an intention–behavior discrepancy (IBD). Drawing on literature on country associations and dual process theory, the authors examine the performance of foreign versus domestic brands on IBD in emerging markets and the moderating role of consumer prior knowledge. They conduct an intention survey followed by a postpurchase survey in the Chinese automobile and smartphone industries and find that foreign brands have an advantage on IBD relative to domestic brands, indicating that they have the dual advantage of higher evaluations and lower IBDs. Furthermore, foreign brands’ advantage on IBD is smaller for consumers with inaccurate prior knowledge because they are more likely to systematically reprocess information and discount foreign brands’ favorable country associations. For these consumers, overestimating the product reduces foreign brands’ advantage to a lesser degree than underestimating it as a result of confirmation bias. These findings provide implications for brands in emerging markets.

Bidding for Multiple Keywords in Sponsored Search Advertising: Keyword Categories and Match Types

Although keyword auctions are often studied in the context of a single keyword in the literature, firms generally have to participate in multiple keyword auctions at the same time. Advertisers purchase a variety of keywords that can be categorized as generic-relevant, focal-brand, and competing-brand keywords. At the same time, firms also have to choose how the keywords can be matched to search queries: exact, phrase, or broad. This study empirically examines how keyword categories and match types influence the performance of advertising campaigns. We build a hierarchical Bayesian model to address the endogeneity problem contained in the simultaneous equations of the click-through rate, the conversion rate, cost per click, and rank, and we use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to identify the parameters. Our results suggest that it is important to differentiate among the various bidding strategies for various keyword categories and match types. We also report results related to financial performance suc...

How to Increase Online Visits and Sales? An Empirical Study on the Consumer-to-Consumer Online Stores

Product visits and sales are of special meanings for online stores. However, little research has compared the influential factors for product visits and sales. Using data of the China C2C online market, this research adopts the Poisson and zero-inflated Poisson model to examine this issue. Bayesian methods are used to estimate the parameters and we find that factors such as store advertising and products historical sales positively influence both visits and sales. However, price, the number of items offered in store, and store reputation exert differential impacts on visits and sales, and the results on the impact of guarantees and consumer evaluations are mixed. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications in the conclusion part.