With increasing consumer interest in “research online, purchase offline” (ROPO), brick-and-mortar retailers are rapidly adopting novel online information services. Among these, virtual showrooms are being increasingly incorporated. Despite this trend, neither academia nor practitioners have...

Most automobile manufacturers use a network of franchised dealers to sell and service their products. These dealers perform the initial sales process as well as deliver after-sales services. Some arguments and studies suggest that the quality of the sales process and subsequent post-sales...