Get a Word in Edgewise: Post Character Limit and Social Media-Based Customer Service

2023 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Al Balawi, Ramah; Hu, Yuheng; Qiu, Liangfei

Abstract: In this paper, we study the role of extending character limits on firm responses ... Expand

Abstract: In this paper, we study the role of extending character limits on firm responses on social media. By leveraging a natural experiment setting: the unexpected increase in post character limit on Twitter, we empirically investigate the impact on the linguistic styles of social media-based customer service responses. Using a Regression Discontinuity in Time Design and leveraging a panel dataset, our results suggest that extending character limits influences firm to change the linguistic styles in their responses which could influence consumers' perceptions. Our results show that extending post-character limits significantly reduces the readability ease of firm responses, on average, while increasing the concreteness and personal closeness scores of these responses, on average. We show that these changes were effective in influencing customer satisfaction. Collapse

Topics: social media Twitter customer service customer satisfaction user experience

Methods: instrumental variables estimation regression discontinuity design descriptive statistic regression analysis method robustness check

Theories: theory of affordance

Impact of Bot Involvement in an Incentivized Blockchain-Based Online Social Media Platform

2023 | Journal of Management Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Delkhosh, Fatemeh; Gopal, Ram D.; Patterson, Raymond A.; Yaraghi, Niam

Abstract: Incentivized blockchain-based online social media (BOSM), where creators and cur ... Expand

Abstract: Incentivized blockchain-based online social media (BOSM), where creators and curators of popular content are paid in cryptocurrency, have recently emerged. Traditional social media ecosystems have experienced significant bot involvement in their platforms, which has often had a negative impact on both users and platforms. BOSM can provide additional direct financial incentives as motivation for both bots' and human users' engagement. Using the panel vector autoregression and regression discontinuity in time framework, we analyze two distinct data sets from Steemit, the largest and most popular BOSM, to study the impact of bot engagement on human users and the impact of changes in financial reward on user engagement. Interestingly, our findings demonstrate that while increased engagement by bots is positively associated with engagement by human users, the association between bot engagement and human user engagement decreases as the number of votes for a post increases. We also find that shifts in economic incentives significantly influence the behavior of both human users and bots. This research provides significant insights on how social media platforms can leverage economic incentives to influence user behavior and, more importantly, leverage bots' activity to increase the engagement of their human users. Collapse

Topics: social media user behavior application programming interface participatory design blockchain

Methods: longitudinal research theory development design methodology regression discontinuity design vector autoregression

Reassessing the Puzzle of Environmental Management Systems and Their Impact on Firm Performance: A Panel Data Analysis

2023 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Huber, Maria; Ixmeier, Anne; Kranz, Johann

Abstract: Companies have increasingly adopted environmental management systems (EMSs) in ... Expand

Abstract: Companies have increasingly adopted environmental management systems (EMSs) in response to the need for improving their environmental sustainability and accountability. EMSs enable companies managing their environmental activities, supposedly leading to improved environmental performance and cost savings. However, research findings regarding the effectiveness of EMSs on key environmental and financial performance measures are inconclusive. To address this puzzle, we collected data from various sources to analyze the relationships between EMS certification, environmental performance, and financial performance for the STOXX 600 using panel data regression covering six years. With this comprehensive, large-scale approach, we account for largely neglected indirect effects and widespread validity issues of prior research, such as cross-sectional designs, perception-based performance measures, and small sample sizes. Our results show that EMS certification has a significant positive effect on environmental performance, particularly on emission reduction. We did not find a significant effect of EMS certification and environmental performance on financial performance. Collapse

Topics: financial performance competitive advantage innovation management missing data communication service infrastructure

Methods: longitudinal research autocorrelation analysis robustness check descriptive statistic Wald test

Theories: resource based view of the firm

How Free Market Entry Affects Creation and Engagement: Evidence from Non-Fungible Tokens

2023 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Kanellopoulos, Ioannis Filippos; Gutt, Dominik; Tunç, Murat; Li, Ting

Abstract: Content creation costs pose a threat for online marketplaces aiming to attract ... Expand

Abstract: Content creation costs pose a threat for online marketplaces aiming to attract new users. In response, platform managers devise new policies to subsidize these costs for content creators. In this study, we analyze data from a leading NFT marketplace to examine the impact of a lazy minting policy, which enables content creation without upfront fees, on created content, and engagement with that content. On the creation side, we observe a volume-effort trade-off, with creators producing more work for the market but exerting less effort during creation. On the engagement side, we note a decrease in engagement, particularly affecting creators with higher engagement levels prior to the policy change. We explore the mechanism driving this reduction and find that effort and attention play crucial roles, while a larger follower count does not shield creators from decreased engagement. Finally, we discuss our contributions to the literature and its implications for platform managers. Collapse

Topics: information good application programming interface non-fungible token website blockchain

Methods: experimental group longitudinal research regression discontinuity design logarithmic transformation difference in differences

Turning Chatters into Donators: An Investigation of Topic-Based Bullet Screen Mode on a Livestreaming Platform Short Paper

2023 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Pu, Xiaodie; Sindihebura, Tanguy Tresor; guo, yue; Chong, Alain

Abstract: ... Expand

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Topics: live streaming platform digital platform user behavior user experience unintended consequence

Methods: regression discontinuity design experimental group descriptive statistic digital trace data longitudinal research

Theories: theory of affordance social exchange theory

Stretch Goals and Crowdfunding Success: The Trade-off between Likelihood to Invest and Contribution Amount

2023 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Sindihebura, Tanguy Tresor; Pu, Xiaodie; Kuo, Vincent; Chen, Jin

Abstract: ... Expand

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Topics: decision making crowdsourcing crowdfunding sensemaking

Methods: ordinary least square statistical hypothesis test regression discontinuity design robustness check theory development

All that Glitters is not Gold: Understanding the Impacts of Platform Recommendation Algorithm Changes on Complementors in the Sharing Economy

2023 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Tong, Jack; Zhang, Xiaowei; Luo, Xueming; Lin, Zhijie; Li, Jing

Abstract: Sharing platforms often leverage recommendation algorithms to reduce matching c ... Expand

Abstract: Sharing platforms often leverage recommendation algorithms to reduce matching costs and improve buyer satisfaction. However, the economic impacts of different recommendation algorithms on the business operations of complementors remains unclear. This study uses natural quasi-experiments and proprietary data from a homecooked food-sharing platform with two recommendation algorithms: word-of-mouth recommendation (WMR) and botler personalization recommendation (BPR). Results show the WMR negatively affects revenue while BPR has a positive effect. The contrast revenue effects have been attributed to capacity constraints for complementors and matching frictions for consumers. WMR encourages sellers to specialize in high-quality products but limits new product development. BPR promotes innovation to suit diverse customer tastes but may reduce quality. This reflects the exploration-exploitation tradeoff: WMR exploits existing competences, while BPR explores new products to satisfy personal preferences. The authors discuss implications for how to utilize recommendation algorithms and artificial intelligence for the prosperity of sharing economy platforms. Collapse

Topics: sharing platform innovation management service quality word of mouth mobile application

Methods: computational algorithm longitudinal research robustness check machine learning quasi experiment

Anchoring on Historical Round Number Reference Points: Evidence from Durable Goods Resale Prices

2023 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Wiltermuth, Scott S.; Gubler, Timothy; Pierce, Lamar

Abstract: This paper examines how people price the resale of durable goods in systematical ... Expand

Abstract: This paper examines how people price the resale of durable goods in systematically biased ways. We show across four studies that the anchoring effect of durable goods’ prior sales prices on subsequent valuations is discontinuous at psychologically salient round number reference points (e.g., $10,000 increments) because these numbers create qualitative differences in how people perceive values below them versus values at/above them. Resellers set disproportionately larger subsequent prices when previous prices move from just below round number thresholds (e.g., $349,000) to those at or just above these thresholds (e.g., $351,000). The findings show that buyers who pay a price just below a round number, therefore, may sacrifice money because they receive disproportionately less when reselling the good. Market forces only partially attenuate this pricing bias, but valuator experience seems to play a moderating role. Archival data show that home buyers who previously paid just under a $10,000 reference point subsequently listed their homes for about 1.8% (over $3,700) less on average than did buyers selling comparable homes who previously paid at or above a round number threshold. This drop is observable controlling for home characteristics and the general relationship between previous and current prices. Three experimental studies looking at housing and used car markets replicate these findings, highlight the mechanism, and increase confidence in causality. Market mechanisms and the negotiation process attenuate discontinuities by about 30%, but lower initial listing prices persist to final sales prices. We find additional weak evidence suggesting that valuator experience may attenuate intergenerational pricing bias. Conflict of Interest: This manuscript was submitted, revised, and accepted prior to the nomination and appointment of Lamar Pierce as Editor-in-Chief. Funding: This project was supported by the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business Behavioral Laboratory. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.1632. Collapse

Topics: price management computer hardware decision making human resource management website

Methods: experiment Wald test descriptive statistic parametric test hierarchical linear modeling

Behind the scenes: The role of writing guideline design in online charitable crowdfunding market

2023 | Information & Management | Citations: 0

Authors: Zhang, Xiaorong; Huang, Hailiang; Xiao, Shengsheng

Abstract: The online charitable crowdfunding platform has emerged as a powerful tool for r ... Expand

Abstract: The online charitable crowdfunding platform has emerged as a powerful tool for raising funds from large crowds to support non-profit activities. Following a patronage model, fundraisers on the platform are forced to use compelling stories to capture the attention of individual donors. As such, conceptualizing a persuasive request narrative for projects posted on the platform becomes one of the most pressing issues. Project writing guidelines, as an important platform design, are widely adopted to help fundraisers. Unfortunately, their role in the market has not been well examined. To fill this research gap, we leverage a unique dataset from a leading donation-based crowdfunding platform in the United States and make full use of its policy change opportunity on writing guidelines to thoroughly investigate its impacts and the underlying mechanism on donors’ contributions. Our empirical results show that the more constraints the guidelines impose on writing, the more likely they are to weaken the persuasiveness of narratives. We specifically focus on three aspects of narrative complexity and find that writing guidelines have a negative impact on linguistic complexity, which in turn diminishes donors’ contribution behavior. Nevertheless, they have positive impacts on both content and structural complexity, with the difference being that increased content complexity weakens donors’ contributions, while higher structural complexity is more likely to attract donations. Moreover, we examine the heterogeneous effects of writing guidelines on fundraisers with varied involvements. These findings deepen our understanding of writing guid­ ance design in online platforms and have implications for charitable crowdfunding platforms and fundraisers. Collapse

Topics: crowdsourcing crowdfunding digital platform project productivity database system

Methods: robustness check statistical hypothesis test descriptive statistic mediation analysis regression analysis method

Theories: cognitive theory expectancy theory of motivation

Introduction to the Minitrack on Digital Transformations of Business Operations

2023 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Zhang, Jie; Jiang, Yabing; Seidmann, Abraham

Abstract: ... Expand

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Topics: cryptocurrency crowdsourcing social media mobile business customer service

Methods: game theoretical model natural experiment regression discontinuity design computational algorithm

Theories: game theory