With advancement in new technologies (specifically, Internet and Smartcard technology), small service providers can develop the capability to implement complex pricing strategies, previously enjoyed by only large service providers. Advance selling is one of those strategies. This paper...

Technology transfer offers global firms an opportunity to reduce the costs involved in serving emerging markets as well as to source from low-cost locations for their home markets. However, it also poses a potential risk of imitation by local competitors who may enter the market(s). We introduce...

Performance-based advertising is becoming increasingly popular in the online advertising industry, where the advertiser pays to the publisher only when an "action" (e.g., a click-through) is generated by the advertisement. We study how the performance-based advertising scheme affects one of the...

In this paper, we examine how firms can leverage reference-group effects (RGEs) in sequential introduction of upgraded products. RGEs arise when consumers engage in social comparisons: leaders desire to distinguish themselves from followers and followers desire to mimic leaders. We find that...

This paper explores the benefits of letting customers escape from pre-purchased service contracts by offering refunds for cancellations. We show that such a policy creates opportunities for multiple selling in a capacity-constrained service - i.e., collecting cancellation fees from advance...

Compared to other markets, those with standards battles exhibit certain fundamental characteristics that make the consumer decision to adopt a new product more risky and complex. This paper examines how standards competition affects consumer behavior, an issue that has been relatively neglected...

Online consumer product review is an emerging market phenomenon that is playing an increasingly important role in consumers' purchase decisions. This paper examines a fundamental issue concerning online consumer review, i.e., the functions such reviews have for an online marketer. We argue that...

This paper uncovers the striking power of a product’s first consumer review. Our analytical model suggests that two key metrics of online consumer reviews, valence and volume, are not independent, but instead evolve interdependently. This interdependence forms a mechanism to transfer a...

This paper defines a unique type of products or services offering, termed "Probabilistic Goods," and analyzes a novel selling strategy, termed Probabilistic Selling (PS). A "probabilistic good" is not a concrete product or service but an offer involving a probability of getting any one of a set...