Consumers’ purchase decisions can be influenced by others’ opinions, i.e., word-of-mouth (WOM), and/or others’ actions, i.e., observational learning. While information technologies are creating increasing opportunities for firms to facilitate/manage these two types of social interaction,...

Although survival is a crucial performance concern for new products in markets with network effects due to high uncertainty and innovation risk in such markets, it has received scant academic attention. This paper investigates pioneers' survival (dis)advantage compared with their early followers...

Mobile application usage is becoming an essential activity in many people's daily lives. Compared with PC internet, mobile internet usage is ubiquitous, temporally fragmented, and more context-dependent. Thus far research is limited on the mechanism of mobile app usage and the effects of...

Ad platforms such as Google and Meta have dominated the digital advertising market for years. However, brands have long been concerned about the advertising efficacy on ad platforms, especially given the skyrocketing advertising costs in recent years. In this study, we examine whether the...

Product-harm crises often result in product recalls that can have a significant impact on a firm’s reputation, sales, and financial value. In managing the recall process, some firms adopt a proactive strategy in responding to consumer complaints while others are more passive. In this study, we...

Networks and the embedded relationships are critical determinants of how people communicate and form beliefs. The explosion of social media has significantly increased the scope and impact of social learning among consumers. This paper studies observational learning in networks of friends versus...

Social media provide an unparalleled platform for consumers to publicize their personal evaluations of purchased products and thus facilitate word-of-mouth communication. This paper examines relationships between consumer posting behavior and marketing variables - such as product price and...

Third-party product reviews (TPRs) have become ubiquitous in many industries. Aided by communication technologies, particularly on the Internet, TPRs are widely available to consumers, managers, and investors. The authors examine whether and how TPRs of new products influence the financial value...

This research conducts a first empirical investigation into the effect of mobile social app usage on consumers’ decisions to visit offline stores, and how such an effect varies across consumers and carries over time. Our analysis combines a dataset of mobile app usage at the individual...

Product photos are a very important part of product presentations in online shopping that directly aid consumers’ understanding of products. Previous studies have shown photo aesthetics matter to consumers. With the advances of image-processing and machine learning techniques, we are able to...