When product or service quality cannot be well-specified ex-ante because of uncertainty and information asymmetry, consumer surplus (CS) is not well-defined or known ex-ante. Traditional measures of CS have implicitly assumed that the quality expected is the same as the quality that is paid for....

The Internet interface poses a difficulty for buyers in evaluating products online, particularly physical experience and durable goods, such as used cars. This increases buyers' product uncertainty, defined as the buyer's perceived estimate of the variance in product quality based on subjective...

Firms use large majorities of their budgets on sales promotions such as coupons and sales events. Many of these sales promotions are framed as “Friends & Family” or “Preferred Customer.” Which of these frames is more effective, when, and why? We answer these questions building on...

This study examines the nature and role of Psychological Contract Violation (PCV) in online marketplaces, a critical factor that has been largely overlooked by previous research. Applied to buyer-seller relationships, PCV is defined as a buyer's perception of having being treated wrongly...

Traditional measures of the effectiveness of marketing communications suggest a specific process by which marketing actions influence consumers. This article offers a broader philosophical perspective on measuring the effectiveness of marketing communications that focuses on interaction as the...

This paper aims to predict consumer acceptance of e-commerce by proposinga set of key drivers for engaging consumers in on-line transactions. The primary constructsfor capturing consumer acceptance of e-commerce are intention to transact andon-line transaction behavior. Following the theory of...

The traditional measure of consumer surplus (CS) (willingness to pay minus price paid) is captured at the time the transaction takes place, implicitly assuming that actual quality received (ex-post) is identical to quality expected (ex-ante). However, when the exchange of goods does not occur...

Social influence shapes consumers' decision-making process by observing other consumers' actions. Having shown that social influence affects consumers' actual purchases (beyond price and discount) using longitudinal secondary data from Groupon, we conducted a lab experiment, including eye...

Electronic commerce (EC) transactions are subject to multiple information security threats. Proposes that consumer trust in EC transactions is influenced by perceived information security and distinguishes it from the objective assessment of security threats. Proposes mechanisms of encryption,...

When product or service quality cannot be well-specified ex-ante because of uncertainty and information asymmetry, consumer surplus (CS) is not well-defined or known ex-ante. Traditional measures of CS have implicitly assumed that the quality expected is the same as the quality that is paid for....