Effects of Centralized and Distributed Quality Control on Sales of Experience Goods in a Transaction Platform Ecosystem

2021 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Tang, Xinlin; Wang, Ping; Zhu, Zhen

Abstract: Platform-based ecosystems attract diverse independent sellers and buyers to tra ... Expand

Abstract: Platform-based ecosystems attract diverse independent sellers and buyers to trade products or services. As such transaction platform ecosystems grow, the quality of the goods sold in these ecosystems may vary increasingly, leading possibly to customer dissatisfaction, declining sales, or even the collapse of the whole ecosystems. In this study, we examine two governance mechanisms that can help control the quality of the goods sold in transaction platform ecosystems: centralized control by the platform owners and distributed control by platform participants. Data collected on international package tours at Trip.com indicates that both centralized control (e.g., platform-assessed quality ratings) and distributed control (e.g., customergenerated quality ratings) can boost sales. Further analysis suggests that centralized control complements distributed control and their relative effectiveness reverses when the volume of customer reviews changes. Therefore, the study expands the concept of distributed governance from its original focus on decision rights partitioning to the realm of control portfolio configuration, where the platform owner, sellers, and buyers can jointly control product quality, so that sales can grow and platform ecosystems can thrive. Collapse

Topics: digital ecosystem experience good word of mouth online word of mouth digital platform

Methods: longitudinal research Student's t-test parametric test hierarchical linear modeling descriptive statistic

Interplay of Competition, Innovation, and Reputation: The Red Queen in Digital Commerce of Experience Goods

2020 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 1

Authors: Wang, Ping; Zhu, Zhen; Liu, Qi; Huang, Qiuyun

Abstract: We study a self-reinforcing process, dubbed "Red Queen," consisting of actions a ... Expand

Abstract: We study a self-reinforcing process, dubbed "Red Queen," consisting of actions and reactions of competitors in the digital commerce of experience goods. Based on our analysis of the package tours sold by 114 travel agencies on the world's largest online platform for travel - Trip.com, the findings suggest that, in markets where a seller's reputation is low, incremental innovations in existing products may boost sales, and that a seller operating in markets with high levels of rivalry would be better off with a middleof-the-road posture for radical innovations such as developing new products. These practical insights can help the sellers of experience goods strategize what, how, and where to innovate in order to beat competition and improve performance in digital commerce. Meanwhile, the study also contributes to an evolutionary perspective on competition in digital commerce and helps expand the scope of Red Queen research in the digital economy. Collapse

Topics: innovation management experience good electronic commerce organization learning web page

Methods: longitudinal research term frequency–inverse document frequency instrumental variables estimation Wald test hierarchical linear modeling

Theories: biological theory

Red Queen Competition through Innovations on a Digital Platform for Experience Goods

2020 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Zhu, Zhen; Wang, Ping; Huang, Qiuyun

Abstract: This study examines a dynamic process of competition, learning, and innovation, ... Expand

Abstract: This study examines a dynamic process of competition, learning, and innovation, referred to as "Red Queen," on a digital platform for trading experience goods. Specifically, by analyzing the package tours sold by 114 travel agencies on the world's largest online travel platform -Trip.com, the study reveals initial evidence of Red Queen as a type of intra-platform competition and how it is played out by firms through continuous innovations. The findings suggest that the providers of experience goods, on a digital platform without intellectual property protection, should maintain appropriate innovation postures according to the type of innovations and level of rivalry in the markets. High performance may result from leading postures for incremental innovations, and from middle-of-the-road postures for radical innovations, especially in high-rivalry markets. These findings can help experience goods providers strategize what, how, and where to innovate in order to beat competition and improve performance on digital platforms. Collapse

Topics: innovation management digital platform experience good organizational productivity web page

Methods: term frequency–inverse document frequency longitudinal research Wald test hierarchical linear modeling theory development

Will firm's marketing efforts on owned social media payoff? A quasi-experimental analysis of tourism products

2018 | Decision Support Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Chang, Hsin-Lu; Chou, Yen-Chun; Wu, Dai-Yu; Wu, Sou-Chein

Abstract: A growing number of travel agencies use social media to promote their services a ... Expand

Abstract: A growing number of travel agencies use social media to promote their services and reach target customers despite some doubt regarding the effectiveness of these tools. Nevertheless, most prior studies adopt a customer-centric perspective to explore the usefulness of earned social media run by third parties. Few have examined a firm's active role in online social interactions. This paper distinguishes owned media from earned media by site ownerships and communication paths, and examines a firm's marketing efforts on its owned Facebook brand page. Working with a leading travel agency, we collected a matched sample of products with Facebook marketing (treatment group) and those without Facebook marketing (control group). Using a quasi-experimental design and difference-in-difference estimation, we evaluate the effect of a firm's efforts on Facebook marketing campaigns after controlling time-fixed selection bias and common time-series heterogeneity. The results show that Facebook campaign activities have a positive impact on sales of tourism products. Furthermore, based on the cognitive fit theory, sales are found to increase when a travel agency promotes tourism products that are highly structured, medium-priced, or medium-length, or that require more tourist involvement. Such effects are further examined across different quantiles of sales and in different time spans to see when product moderations are more prominent. The empirical findings facilitate decision-making of e-commerce managers in the tourism industry not only by justifying the effectiveness as well as budget allocation of owned social media marketing, but also by providing a rudimentary guidance on the product selection in Facebook marketing campaigns. Collapse

Topics: Facebook marketing management social media social media marketing electronic commerce

Methods: experimental group longitudinal research difference in differences time series analysis quasi experiment

Theories: cognitive fit theory

Antecedents of cognitive trust and affective distrust and their mediating roles in building customer loyalty

2015 | Information Systems Frontiers | Citations: 13

Authors: Lee, Jung; Lee, Jae-Nam; Tan, Bernard C. Y.

Abstract: The present research investigates how trust and distrust differently mediate in ... Expand

Abstract: The present research investigates how trust and distrust differently mediate in customer perceptions of various web features in the process of building customer loyalty. Assuming trust and distrust are different in their psychological aspects, we propose that trust is a cognitively active construct, whereas distrust is an affectively active construct. To support this proposal, we select six antecedents of trust and distrust and hypothesize their different relationships as follows: 1) Antecedents with capability-based elements, such as site convenience and content relevance, are associated with trust; 2) Antecedents with relationship-affecting elements, such as customer involvement and web fraud, are associated with distrust; 3) Antecedents with both elements, such as content truthfulness and customer responsiveness, are associated with both trust and distrust. A survey is conducted on 279 online shopping mall users in Korea, and the result shows that most of the foregoing hypotheses are supported. The finding suggests: 1) Trust emerges when customers expect positive result with confidence, thereby implying that it is cognitively activated; 2) Distrust emerges when customers suspect that the seller has a vicious motivation, thereby implying that it is affectively activated. From these premises, the present study contributes to the literature by showing how trust and distrust are different, and why they should be managed differently to establish customer loyalty. Collapse

Topics: electronic business customer loyalty website electronic commerce data quality

Methods: survey data transformation SEM tool exploratory factor analysis theory development

Using Fuzzy Preference Method for Group Package Tour Based on the Risk Perception

2014 | Group Decision and Negotiation | Citations: 0

Authors: Hsu, Tsuen-Ho; Lin, Ling-Zhong

Abstract: This study explores group package tour (GPT) itineraries based on comparative ri ... Expand

Abstract: This study explores group package tour (GPT) itineraries based on comparative risk methodology using the fuzzy Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE). It combines the concepts of fuzzy sets to represent the uncertain information in intrinsic risks with PROMETHEE, a subgroup of Multi-Criteria Decision Making methods. Based on in-depth interviews with 40 GPT leaders, this study identifies comprehensive intrinsic risk factors. Furthermore, this study compares the risk perceptions associated with 12 factors by applying traditional PROMETHEE and fuzzy PROMETHEE methods to four itineraries. The PROMETHEE method can be used when the input data are numeric and crisp. The fuzzy PROMETHEE method is preferred when substantial uncertainties and subjectivities exist in GPT itinerary information. Finally, several academic and managerial implications about GPT tour risk controls are outlined. Collapse

Topics: strategic management computer software data quality fuzzy logic

Methods: survey personal interview mixed method triangulation qualitative interview

Theories: fuzzy set theory