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For digital-native fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturers that sell through their own online channel and have made headway into supermarkets, brand stores can represent the next step in a multichannel distribution strategy. In this research, the authors investigate the impact of introducing a brand store on a digital-native FMCG brand's sales in its existing company-owned online channel and in independent supermarkets, as well as on the brand's supermarket distribution. By incorporating brand store sales and operational costs, this research also specifies the entry effects on the brand's top-line total brand sales and bottom-line operating profit. Based on before-and-after-with-control-group analyses of the entry of ten brand stores by a digital-native FMCG brand, the authors show that brand store entry boosts supermarket sales, partially driven by a brand store's positive effect on the number of supermarkets listing the brand. Although they cannibalize company-owned online sales, brand store entries generate an influx of own brand store sales that offset online channel losses. Still, accounting for brand stores' operational costs reveals that top-line growth is not always enough to preserve the bottom line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Once scaled, online platforms reconfigure value to remain competitive. Reconfiguration in online platforms may take a different form than in pipelines, as online platforms are intermediaries that generate network effects among the sides they connect. They also face stiff competition from other spheres due to lower barriers to entry. Why and how do online platforms reconfigure value? By examining 13 Indian online platforms that have achieved a certain level of success (such as tipped markets, investor confidence, or profitability), this article offers four strategies for reconfiguring online platforms: enhance interactions, enhance capabilities, offer new services, and nurture new transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fierce competition among brands on online marketplaces makes the optimization of offerings within this context a significant challenge. To address this challenge, we draw upon network theory and model the degree of competition through consumers' consideration sets. We use a large empirical dataset from one of the biggest online marketplaces to explore the dynamic relationship between network position and the degree of competition, and we depict the redistribution of market share of related offerings after adjusting their array. In doing so, we provide a theoretical reference on when and how brands should optimize their product offerings on online marketplaces. We further demonstrate that intra-brand cannibalization relations have a significantly greater impact on the degree of competition compared to inter-brand ones, while intra-brand cannibalization relations represent the main reason for fluctuations in the degree of competition. Hence, contrary to existing theoretical insights and practical intuitions, our findings demonstrate that brands should minimize the number and heterogeneity of their offerings within a market segment to increase their sales on online marketplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Management Information Systems has published a special issue that focuses on two main topics: the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence (AI), and cybersecurity. The first set of papers explores the impact of generative AI on human accomplishment and productivity, as well as the concerns surrounding employment and the survival of humans in the face of AI. The second set of papers addresses the increasing importance of cybersecurity in the face of sophisticated cyberattacks and the need for a broader understanding of cybersecurity and the use of AI to combat these threats. Other topics covered in the issue include the role of AI in employee performance evaluation, the collaboration between AI and humans in demand forecasting, the effectiveness of fear appeals in shaping employee cybersecurity posture, the relationship between IT innovativeness and the risk of data breaches, the impact of avatars on community identification in virtual social worlds, the performance of foreign IT complementors in mobile app startups, the impact of open-source software communities on cryptocurrency prices, the influence of social relationships on online reviews, the digitalization of loyalty in online reward programs, and the optimization of brand offerings in online marketplaces. [Extracted from the article]

This study examines how the timing of review reminders affects the likelihood and quality of product review postings. The authors postulate that review reminders have two distinct effects, depending on the delivery timing. On the one hand, reminders of review posting given immediately or shortly after a product experience may threaten a consumer's freedom and prompt an adverse reaction. On the other hand, as time after the product experience passes, it may be advantageous to revive memories of review posting using delayed review reminders. To evaluate the effect of review reminders, the authors conduct two randomized field experiments. The findings show that immediate reminders reduce the chance of review postings relative to a randomized immediate control group who did not receive a reminder, consistent with the notion that the reactance induced by the violation of freedom due to instant review reminders outweighs the benefit of memory recall. Conversely, delayed reminders significantly increase the likelihood of review posting compared with a randomized delayed control, suggesting that the memory recall benefit surpasses reactance. However, the timing of review reminders has little effect on review content. The study contributes to the literature on the temporal effects of marketing activities and provides practical advice for online marketplaces to collect more product reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rapidly evolving online marketplace, accurately predicting the demand for pre-owned items presents a significant challenge for sellers, impacting pricing strategies, product presentation, and marketing investments. Traditional demand prediction methods, while foundational, often fall short in addressing the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of e-commerce data, which encompasses textual descriptions, visual elements, geographic contexts, and temporal dynamics. This paper introduces a novel approach utilizing the Graph Neural Network (GNN) to enhance demand prediction accuracy by leveraging the spatial relationships inherent in online sales data, named SGNN. Drawing from the rich dataset provided in the fourth Kaggle competition, we construct a spatially aware graph representation of the marketplace, integrating advanced attention mechanisms to refine predictive accuracy. Our methodology defines the product demand prediction problem as a regression task on an attributed graph, capturing both local and global spatial dependencies that are fundamental to accurate predicting. Through attention-aware message propagation and node-level demand prediction, our model effectively addresses the multifaceted challenges of e-commerce demand prediction, demonstrating superior performance over traditional statistical methods, machine learning techniques, and even deep learning models. The experimental findings validate the effectiveness of our GNN-based approach, offering actionable insights for sellers navigating the complexities of the online marketplace. This research not only contributes to the academic discourse on e-commerce demand prediction but also provides a scalable and adaptable framework for future applications, paving the way for more informed and effective online sales strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many products sold on online platforms have additional features like fees for services, shipping, luggage, upgrades, and so on. We study when a two-sided platform shrouds additional features towards potentially naive buyers. We explore a novel mechanism according to which platforms shroud to manipulate network externalities between buyers and sellers. Exploring this mechanism, we argue the advent of online marketplaces led to less transparent markets. First, platforms have stronger incentives to shroud seller fees than sellers themselves. Second, platforms shroud their own fees less if they earn more revenue from sellers; so when sellers on the platform compete more fiercely, platforms—somewhat perversely—shroud more. We connect these results to many applications and the current debate on regulating online platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, utilizing the potential of online markets to sell products has become increasingly important for creating competitive advantages and ensuring the growth and survival of businesses. The pandemic has disrupted traditional business practices, and with social distancing measures in place, consumers have turned to online channels to meet their needs. As a result, businesses that have adapted quickly to online markets have been able to maintain their customer base and revenue streams. Thus, considering the potential of online markets is of utmost importance in the current pandemic situation. In this regard, the present research aims to provide a practical framework for creating a green and sustainable closed-loop supply chain network (SCLSCN), including the integration of online markets, to assist managers in making decisions that support economic, environmental, and social goals. Accordingly, a multi-objective mixed integer linear programming (MOMILP) optimization model was designed under uncertain demand and disruption caused by natural disasters in Iran's home appliance industry. The study also considered changes in the capacities of online and marketplace sales channels, revealing a significant reduction in costs at each stage. The results show that the increase in demand has a direct impact on the production level, warehousing, and transportation costs, leading to social impacts on the model. However, the current system cannot handle an increase in demand of more than 20%, requiring managers to make decisions to increase production capacity or build new factories. Thus, the study highlights the importance of considering online markets as a means to adapt to disruptions caused by the pandemic and maintain a competitive edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the platform economy era, e‐commerce platforms function as distribution channels for sellers and offer online loans to sellers as financing providers. This study focuses on platform finance, where the platform sets a credit line or interest rate to offer either a limited or unlimited loan to capital‐constrained sellers. The sellers may have sufficient initial capital or be capital‐constrained but have access to limited or unlimited loans. We found that the optimal sellers' channel strategy, choosing either a single channel or online‐dominant or offline‐dominant dual channels, depends on the platform's credit line, consumers' channel preferences, and their switching behavior between online and offline channels. Given an unlimited (or limited) loan, the seller's dominated channel's quantity decreases (or increases) with her initial capital. The seller's and platform's preference for the unlimited loan or limited loan depends on the dominant channel and the seller's capital constraint. Loan offerings result in Pareto improvements for both participants, which reveals the value platform finance brings. We compare platform finance with bank finance and find that platform finance increases the sellers' threshold quantity without stockout in each channel and encourages the seller to place a higher quantity in both channels. We also examine the channel substitution effect on the sellers' quantity decisions. Findings provide insights for platforms and sellers to implement optimal financing and channel structures to increase their profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have an important role in the Indonesian economy. Many studies on MSMEs are expected to improve the quality of the MSMEs themselves. Meanwhile, social media and online marketplaces are increasingly familiar to Indonesians who are technology and internet literate. Research on MSMEs marketing with social media and online marketplaces is always needed along with rapid technological advances. Therefore, researchers try to discuss how MSMEs in the fashion or clothing company category in Malang City utilize social media and online marketplaces for their marketing development. This research was conducted using a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. Phenomenology is a study intended to seek the essence or meaning of a phenomenon experienced by several research individuals. This research involved four micro-scale clothing MSMEs in Malang City. From the results of the interviews, it was found that all clothing MSME players in Malang City have used social media as a marketing tool. In fact, all clothing MSMEs make social media their main marketing tool. However, the online marketplace is still not used optimally. The obstacles faced by UMKM clothing companies are limited capital, human resources, and Marketing using social media can still be maximized again by recruiting social media specialists and influencers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essential element of everyday is the digital presence of consumers in the Internet marketplaces. Moreover, social media platforms are becoming an important part of 21st century commerce and mark a modern way of doing business. Thus, being in a world that is evolving in terms of social media and digital marketing, this article delves into the significant impact of Bookstagram influencers on the visibility and popularity of books. In other words, this article aims to take a close look at the "Bookstagram Tour" phenomenon in Romania, analyzing how bookstagrammers can increase the recognition of a book through their platforms. Starting from an exploratory-descriptive research, we highlight the examination of interactions, post likes and engagement metrics of posts related to a specific online book tour. The study aims to quantify the influence of bookstagrammers in promoting literary content, marking that such a promotion technique succeeds, both in the short and long term, in strengthening the relationship between influencer and consumer and increasing the number of digital interactions. This exploration is key to understanding the changing dynamics of book marketing and readership in the social media age, where influencers hold substantial power in shaping public opinion and determining trends in the literary world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper displays the monthly and yearly currency exchange inflation of the Cuban Peso (CUP) in the national black market since the appearance of the Ordenamiento policy. Being served by ElToque's advanced algorithm coverage on more than 150 online marketplaces, the public historical data on the value of the CUP is converted into monthly and yearly data on exchange rate inflation. The paper, moreover, aims to discuss the Central Bank's matching of exchange rate data with factual popular behavior in contrast with the findings on the black market, which effectively proved abrupt differences. Thus, the blackmarket data insights represent key information while further research is being conducted on the Cuban economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapidly growing online sales, e-commerce firms in emerging economies like India risk unsustainable practices such as the relentless consumption of goods, increased plastic and paper packaging, or inefficient delivery options that increase fuel consumption. To maintain a favorable corporate image amongst consumers, online firms possibly adopt various mechanisms to signal consumers' adoption of sustainable practices. Such practices by firms may involve implementing sustainability practices in doorstep delivery, packaging, and product selection to influence consumers' buying preferences. This research uses a structured survey approach to explore the impact of three sustainable practices implemented by an e-commerce firm on the consumer's intention to purchase from such a firm. Using a dual theory perspective of the theory of consumption value (TCV) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the study demonstrates the impact of the belief of environmental risks on consumers' intentions to purchase from such e-commerce firms with sustainable practices. The data findings from 301 Indian e-commerce consumers suggest that consumers with a higher belief of environmental risks display a higher degree of tolerance for the inconvenience of order delivery and sustainable product purchase intentions, further influencing their intentions to purchase from e-commerce firms with sustainable practices. However, the preference for sustainable packaging does not impact intentions to purchase from e-commerce firms with sustainable practices. The study discusses the implications for online e-commerce retailers and policymakers and informs online e-commerce consumers' choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer-to-consumer resale platforms (CRPs) facilitate redistribution of used products. After getting rid of their used items, consumers may repurchase new items from the retailer, obtaining an additional utility due to their dependence on the retailer's products. The retailer can capitalize on this behavior by embracing CRPs to encourage repeat purchases and drive revenue. This article constructs a two-period analytical model of an e-commerce marketplace comprising a retailer (new-product market) and a CRP (used-product market), to examine the implications of CRPs for the retailer and forward-looking consumers. Consumers are heterogeneous in two aspects: utility dependence from repeat purchases and perception of used-product quality levels. Our findings show that utility dependence mitigates the direct competition posed by the CRPs to the retailer. The retailer leverages consumer heterogeneity to exacerbate intertemporal price discrimination, generating enhancement and cannibalization effects on revenue. The enhancement effect dominates to increase the retailer's revenue, except when new-product consumption yields a high value to consumers and the CRP's commission rate is high. Counterintuitively, consumers and the retailer can be better off or worse off simultaneously. Coupled with the CRP's revenue reaped from used-product transactions, social welfare is likely to improve with the addition of this entity. Moreover, the retailer can be better off as an external CRP sets the commission rate to maximize its own revenue, while it can further benefit from self-managing a CRP when the marginal operating cost is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that consumers prefer organic listings in the top-ranked positions to sponsored listings of the same product/position in an online marketplace. Sponsored product listings on online marketplaces are third-party sellers' ads blended in organic product listings. This paper investigates a seller's managerial questions: whether a sponsored listing outperforms an organic listing and how the performance varies by positions. Our large-scale field study on a mobile app with experimental and natural variation finds that consumers prefer organic listings in the top-ranked positions to sponsored listings of the same product/position. Consumers become indifferent between sponsored and organic listings in the lower-ranked positions. A mechanism check suggests that top-ranked organic listings are perceived as more credible than seller-subsidized sponsored listings. Despite consumers' preference for organic listings, a simulation analysis shows that an advertising seller may benefit financially if a lower-ranked organic listing can be replaced with a top-ranked sponsored listing. History: Olivier Toubia served as the senior editor. Funding: J. Shi acknowledges financial support from INFORMS Society for Marketing Science Doctoral Dissertation Early Stage Research Grants. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2021.0293. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem definition: We consider a platform's problem of how to staff its operations given the possibilities of hiring employees and setting up a contractor marketplace. We aim to understand the operational difference between these two work arrangement models. Methodology/results: We consider a model where demand is not only stochastic but also evolving over time, which we capture via a state of the world that determines the demand distribution. In the case of employees, the platform controls the number of employee hours it uses for serving demand, whereas in the case of contractors, it sets the wage paid to them per utilized hour. We show that although the employee problem is equivalent to a standard newsvendor, the contractor one corresponds to an unusual version of the newsvendor model where utilization is the control variable. Managerial implications: This distinction makes the contractor model more flexible, allowing us to prove that it performs significantly better, especially if the order of magnitude of demand is unknown. Meanwhile, hybrid solutions that combine both employees and contractors have complex optimal solutions and offer relatively limited benefits relative to a contractor marketplace. History: This paper has been accepted in the Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Frontiers in Operations Initiative. Funding: This research was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 71821002]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2023.0029. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the intricate dynamics of utilitarian browsing, hedonic browsing, electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty across three generational cohorts –Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers – in Indonesian online marketplaces. The research addresses the need to understand how different age groups engage with online platforms amidst technological advancements and emerging generational cohorts. A quantitative approach is employed to systematically investigate these phenomena. Data from a structured online survey of 962 respondents are analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and correlation analysis. The majority of respondents (50.5%) belong to the Millennial generation, followed by Generation X (31.2%) and Baby Boomers (16.2%).The findings reveal significant differences in utilitarian browsing (F = 11.222, p < 0.001), hedonic browsing (F = 6.338, p = 0.002), e-WOM (F = 3.488, p = 0.031), e-satisfaction (F = 6.239, p = 0.002), and e-loyalty (F = 9.298, p < 0.001) across different generational groups. Notably, Millennials and Gen X exhibit higher levels of utilitarian and hedonic browsing, e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty compared to Baby Boomers, while e-WOM engagement remains consistent across all cohorts. These findings provide valuable insights for businesses operating in the Indonesian online marketplace, guiding targeted marketing strategies, enhancing user experiences, and fostering customer loyalty. The research emphasizes the importance of aligning marketing approaches with the distinct preferences and behaviors of different generational segments. Furthermore, it suggests avenues for future research, including exploring additional demographic variables and conducting longitudinal studies to track evolving consumer dynamics.

Using debt crowdfunding data, we investigate whether borrowers' writing style is associated with an online lender and borrower behaviors, whether the information contained in linguistic style can mitigate information asymmetry in peer-to-peer markets, and whether online investors correctly interpret the economic value of written texts. Peer-to-peer lenders bid more aggressively, are more likely to fund, and charge lower rates to online borrowers whose writing is more readable, more positive, and contains fewer deception cues. Moreover, such borrowers are less likely to default. Online investors, however, fail to fully account for the information contained in borrowers' writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shopee is an Indonesian online marketplace that facilitates buying and selling. Web apps serve as its foundation. Several marketplaces compete with Shopee. The goal of this study is to determine how free shipping deals and the caliber of e-services affect the judgments made by FEB UGJ Cirebon students about the Shopee marketplace. In this study, a quantitative research methodology was utilized. The research population consists of the FEB UGJ Cirebon students who use Shopee. 142 respondents make up the sample size used in this purposive sampling technique. The SPSS program, version 22, is used in the analytical approach. Purchase decisions made by customers are known to be positively and significantly impacted by the slogan "free shipping" and the quality of the eservice based on the data results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional involvement is known to be necessary but not sufficient for good decision making in the face of uncertainty. It has been conjectured that emotional engagement in anticipation of risky outcomes constitutes "good" emotions. We introduce a new methodology to determine whether anticipatory emotional engagement is beneficial in the context of trading in financial markets. We focus on heart rate changes because they occur at a sufficiently high frequency to discern timing relative to events in the marketplace. After conservatively adjusting for multiple hypothesis testing, we find that participants whose heart rate changes anticipate their order submissions at inflated prices earn significantly more, whereas participants whose heart rate responds to their trades earn significantly less. By investigating cointegration between skin conductance response and the dynamics of individual portfolio values, we confirm the importance of emotional involvement in determining who makes or loses money. This paper was accepted by Bruno Biais, finance. Funding: This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [Grants DP180102284 and LE130100112]. The authors also thank the Monash Business School for funds associated with the Monash Business Behavioural Laboratory facility and equipment used in this study. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4883. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sellers on online marketplaces such as Amazon.com use a variety of retail and retail media advertising services to improve their brand performance, including awareness, consideration, and revenue. But how can they measure their progress and drive these metrics? For 122,000 brands, we measure Amazon shoppers' brand awareness, consideration, and purchases and test how they change with ad and retail actions. Furthermore, we compare these brands' past media mix with the recommended allocation based on the model's coefficients. We find that new product launches and upper-funnel retail media advertising are particularly effective for small brands. Medium-sized and large brands benefit most from lower-funnel advertising. For the funnel stages, all three metrics benefit from the number of new reviews, % discount, negative keywords, and geo-reach campaigns. These results are robust across different product categories, but we find notable differences in how upper- and middle-funnel ad products succeed in driving sales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of e-commerce on local retail employment and its heterogeneity by employment and regional types, using Korean retail survey. Our findings reveal that the positive impact of online sales expansion is mainly confined to the growth of wage workers, though its elasticity with respect to online sales is much smaller than that of offline sales. When dividing the full sample by regional type, the positive employment effect of online sales on wage workers is significant only in non-metropolitan regions. In addition, the negative impact of online sales on non-wage workers is found only in metropolitan regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probabilistic selling with vertically differentiated products has witnessed strong growth and receives increasing attention. We investigate probabilistic selling in a distribution channel, where an online retailer allows a manufacturer to sell two vertically differentiated products to consumers as a marketplace and decides whether to generate the probabilistic product. We show that probabilistic product is available only when two necessary conditions are satisfied. One condition is that salient thinkers exist in the market, who consider the probabilistic product with less price sensitivity than rational consumers. Another condition is that the probabilistic product must come from two vertically differentiated products with sufficient quality differentiation. If probabilistic selling is used, it realizes price discrimination as a positive effect yet induces cannibalization as a negative effect. Furthermore, we recommend that the online retailer, acting as the more powerful player, should employ a revenue sharing contract to improve the performance of the total distribution channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science teachers crave instructional materials and an increasing number of them are going to online educational marketplaces to purchase them. This study reports on a content analysis of highly rated products marketed for middle level science (grades 6, 7, and/or 8) on TeachersPayTeachers.com (TpT), one of the most prominent online educational marketplaces. Thirty-three products were reviewed in this study and they contained a variety of student tasks (e.g., investigations & worksheets) and teacher resources (e.g., PowerPoint slides, lesson plans, & answer keys). Instructional materials obtained from these products yielded more than 1,500 pages for analysis. The first layer of the analysis focused on the alignment of these materials to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and results indicated that few materials included any key features of NGSS design (n = 2). The second layer of the analysis focused on the treatment and presentation of nature of science (NOS) ideas in these instructional materials. Of the 27 products that included any representation of NOS, the majority of these materials included empirical NOS (n = 22) and the myth of the "Scientific Method" (n = 21). Fewer representations were found for social NOS (n = 4), creative (n = 3), tentative (n = 3), theory-laden (n = 3), and along with social and cultural embeddedness (n = 1). Results revealed mixed messages among the instructional materials reviewed, examples are shared to frame a discussion about features that can foster the development of NOS understandings. Implications of this research regarding the preparation of teachers to evaluate instructional materials are discussed alongside research highlighting how educative features can support NOS instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brokers are an under‐studied channel of enrollment in the affordable care act (ACA), having grown to support nearly 80% of active federally facilitated marketplace (FFM) enrollment during the 2024 Open Enrollment Period. Brokers enroll a disproportionately low‐income and new‐to‐market consumer base compared to the core exchange websites, and have contributed to the record‐breaking growth in the ACA Marketplace in recent years. Understanding the role brokers play and the technological and policy changes that have enabled their work may help state‐based marketplaces improve stagnant enrollment growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variations in sales promotion in e-commerce impact online purchase decisions. Managers of e-commerce marketplaces must comprehend the effects of sales deviations on purchase decisions. We categorize sales promotion changes as either recognisable or unrecognisable to the consumer. We used the stimulus-organization-response model to assess the influence of diverse sales promotions influence consumer purchase decisions via the perceived attractiveness of the product. Using data from 587 online consumers we discovered distinct impacts between recognisable and unrecognisable changes on perceived attractiveness and purchase intention. Additionally, product value moderates these effects. Current research provides valuable insights with interesting theoretical and managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sneaker industry is continuing to expand at a fast rate and will be worth over USD 120 billion in the next few years. This is, in part due to social media and online retailers building hype around releases of limited-edition sneakers, which are usually collaborations between well-known global icons and footwear companies. These limited-edition sneakers are typically released in low quantities using an online raffle system, meaning only a few people can get their hands on them. As expected, this causes their value to skyrocket and has created an extremely lucrative resale market for sneakers. This has given rise to numerous counterfeit sneakers flooding the resale market, resulting in online platforms having to hand-verify a sneaker's authenticity, which is an important but time-consuming procedure that slows the selling and buying process. To speed up the authentication process, Support Vector Machines and a convolutional neural network were used to classify images of fake and real sneakers and then their accuracies were compared to see which performed better. The results showed that the CNNs performed much better at this task than the SVMs with some accuracies over 95%. Therefore, a CNN is well equipped to be a sneaker authenticator and will be of great benefit to the reselling industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unsustainable trade in big cats affects all species in the genus, Panthera, and is one of the foremost threats to their conservation. To provide further insight into the impact of policy interventions intended to address this issue, we examine the case study of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), which in the early 1990s was one of the world's largest importers of tiger (Panthera tigris) bone and a major manufacturer of tiger-derived medicinal products. In 1993, South Korea became a Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and introduced a ban on commercial trade in CITES Appendix I-listed big cats a year later. We used an expert-based questionnaire survey and an exploration of the CITES trade database to investigate what has since happened to big cat trade in South Korea. Expert opinion suggested that big cat trade has likely substantially reduced since the early 1990s, as a result of the trade ban and broad socioeconomic changes. However, illegal trade has not been eradicated entirely and we were able to confirm that products reportedly derived from big cats were still publicly available for sale on a range of Korean online marketplaces, sometimes openly. The items most commonly reported by respondents from post-1994 trade and supported by expert-led evidence were tiger and leopard (Panthera pardus) skins and tiger bone wine. Although South Korea may provide a useful case study of a historically significant consumer country for tiger which has made strong progress in addressing unsustainable levels of big cat trade within a short period of time, there remains a need to address recalcitrant small-scale, illegal trade. We also recommend further investigation regarding reports of South Korean nationals being involved in illegal trade in tiger-derived products in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online marketplaces are growing internationally with sellers coming from around the world. Product description texts often stand as the first piece of information soliciting buyers' attention, where the seller’s culture and linguistic backgrounds drive great variations in description style and appeal. Product descriptions, on top of being a self-selected disclosure of product information, offer first-impression signals to infer a seller's credibility, competency, experience, and more for a buyer’s decision-making. Sellers therefore make strategic decisions in composing product descriptions to woo potential buyers. In this research, we studied composition quality of product descriptions, a type of marketer generated content, in an online marketplace. We collected online product description data and quantified their properties using data mining methods to define perceived description quality and characterize quality differentiating dimensions. Our analysis identified ten defining characteristics for differentiating native versus non-native speaker drafted descriptions. By combining business text analytics methods with modern linguistic theories and tools, this study is the first research to systematically quantify and characterize the concept of composition quality within the context of consumer-perceived nativeness. Our findings further complete and advance the literature on marketer generated content (MGC), consumer decision-making, and seller operations decisions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, many consumers rely heavily on product reviews before making decisions; however, not all reviews are similar in terms of sentiment and helpfulness. Moreover, reviewers' linguistic styles vary according to their culture. Although various multinational companies such as eBay and Amazon operate worldwide, little research has been devoted to understanding how review sentiment influences the subjectivity and helpfulness of product reviews in a multicultural marketplace. Therefore, the present research identifies how review subjectivity explains the relationship between review sentiment and review helpfulness in individualistic (i.e., the U.S.) and collectivistic (i.e., India) cultures. By means of two studies, the first using secondary data collected from Amazon.com and the second a controlled experiment setting, we find that review subjectivity mediates the influence of review sentiments only in individualistic cultures such as the U.S., but not in collectivistic cultures like India. Furthermore, we find that the moderated mediation is evident only when comparing positive and negative sentiments. This research has implications for academic and industry practitioners in terms of incorporating culture in decisions on review helpfulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study centres on the Idle Fish platform, a prominent online marketplace for second-hand goods in China, and constructs a theoretical structure predicated on social cognitive theory and social capital theory. The quick expansion of the sharing economy has not merely catalysed economic transformation but has revolutionized consumption patterns. This research employed a survey methodology, utilizing a digital questionnaire disseminated via Credamo, which yielded 400 valid responses. The sample pool on this platform is of exceptional quality. Prior to accessing the questionnaire, the respondents must complete five perquisite prompts, which ensure their attentiveness. This procedure acts as a safeguard, ensuring the high calibre of the data collected. Employing the SmartPLS (structural equation model), the paper elucidates how self-efficacy and social trust, influenced by social referral, system quality, platform resources, community interaction, rights protection, and shared goals, drive users' sustained willingness to utilize the sharing economy platform. The findings reveal that selfefficacy and social trust positively impact users' willingness to persist in using the platform of the sharing economy. Furthermore, shared goals emerge as the most critical determinant of social trust. The paper accomplishes this by discussing the practical suggestions of the research findings for the platforms of the sharing economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bias-correction approach that can recover the total average treatment effect of a ranking algorithm based on past A/B tests even if those tests suffer from interference issues. Online marketplaces use ranking algorithms to determine the rank-ordering of items sold on their websites. The standard practice is to determine the optimal algorithm using A/B tests. We present a theoretical framework to characterize the total average treatment effect (TATE) of a ranking algorithm in an A/B test and show that naive TATE estimates can be biased because of interference. We propose a bias-correction approach that can recover the TATE of a ranking algorithm based on past A/B tests even if those tests suffer from a combination of interference issues. Our solution leverages data across multiple experiments and identifies observations in partial equilibrium in each experiment, that is, items close to their positions under the true counterfactual equilibrium of interest. We apply our framework to data from a travel website and present comprehensive evidence for interference bias in this setting. Next, we use our solution concept to build a customized deep learning model to predict the true TATE of the main algorithm of interest in our data. Counterfactual estimates from our model show that naive TATE estimates of click and booking rates can be biased by as much as 15% and 29%, respectively. History: Olivier Toubia served as the senior editor. Funding: This work was supported by the Marketing Science Institute [Grant 4001313]. Supplemental Material: The web appendix and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2022.0046. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online businesses have been surging worldwide during the past decade, especially during the recent COVID-19 epidemic. However, the market share of online real estate transactions is still limited, mainly due to the information-asymmetry problem. In this study, we manually collect data on online judicial housing auctions in China, which is currently the largest online real estate market globally, and investigate how information disclosure facilitates real estate transactions. The empirical results suggest that disclosing better quality information online can attract more potential buyers. In particular, providing more comprehensive information such as professional appraisal reports or videos of the property can help to convert buyers' initial interests into completed transactions and higher sales proceeds. The positive effects of information are particularly strong when combined with offline services, in a more mature online market, and for low-value properties. We also provide preliminary analysis of factors affecting online-information-disclosure quality from both the macro and micro perspectives. We also provide preliminary analysis of factors affecting online-information-disclosure quality from both the macro and micro perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines tax evasion in the digital marketplace, focusing on the European context, and proposes a multifaceted approach to address this issue. The proposed approach includes legislative efforts, waste management through packaging and unpacking, and improved infrastructure. Our analysis highlights the impact of digitalization on deterring tax evasion behavior, as well as the potential benefits of technology advancements for improving the ability of governments to decrease tax evasion. To gather data, we created a questionnaire to assess the perception of tax evasion in the digital marketplace among experienced e-commerce traders. The results demonstrate the need for collaboration between stakeholders to curb tax evasion. The study offers practical solutions for curbing tax evasion while emphasizing the importance of collaboration between governments, businesses, and consumers in the digital marketplace. This study provides valuable insights for academics and managers seeking to understand the challenges and opportunities presented by e-commerce growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study was to analyze and compare the benefits of using online advertising compared to offline advertising. The aim was to understand the advantages that online advertising offered in terms of reach, interactivity, return on investment and other key factors. A comprehensive analysis of case studies, market data and current trends in online and offline advertising was carried out. Analytical tools were used to evaluate the performance of advertising campaigns in both media, as well as surveys and interviews with marketing professionals to obtain qualitative insights. The study spanned a 12-month period, with data collection from baseline to completion of the analysis. A period was selected that would allow capturing seasonal changes and trends throughout the year. The study was applied in the field of advertising and marketing, with a special focus on companies seeking to promote products or services. Case studies from different sectors were considered to obtain a broad vision applicable to various industries. The research was carried out in various markets and regions to ensure a global representation of trends. Particular attention was paid to online marketplaces such as social media platforms, search engines and specialized websites. In addition, traditional offline media, such as television, radio and print media, were considered. At the end of the study, strong conclusions were drawn about the relative benefits of online advertising compared to offline advertising. Practical recommendations were provided for businesses seeking to maximize their advertising reach and effectiveness. Emerging trends and areas of opportunity in the advertising field were highlighted, with the aim of guiding future strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological developments have produced many things, one of which is e-commerce or an online marketplace, one of which is Lazada. The purpose of this study was to measure how much influence brand ambassadors (X1) and flash sales (X2) have on impulse buying (Y) in lazada applications in the Cirebon area. This research method uses probability sampling techniques with simple random sampling methods and conducts a sample of 100 respondents with age criteria 17-25 years of lazada application users in the Cirebon area. The SPSS 24 software application helps in analysing data which includes instrument tests, classical assumption tests, and multiple linear regression tests. From the test results, it can be concluded that the brand ambassador and flash sale variables have a positive and significant effect on impulse buying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies such as digital production and online marketplaces have generated revenue growth and sustained work in the music and game creative industries. However, there is little research on how digital technologies impact contemporary craft. Here we present the results of a twenty-month AHRC research project which explored the role of digital technologies for craft in China and the United Kingdom. The research was undertaken prior to the mass adoption of online tools such as videoconferencing, which became necessary due to enforced social distancing during the recent pandemic. It provides an account of the craft ecosystems in China and the United Kingdom as they started to embrace digital technologies – ecosystems which inevitably evolved with craftmakers' enforced migration online. This article reports on mixed-methods research stakeholder surveys, workshops and quick ethnographic studies conducted to capture how digital technologies were used across the craft making journey from Planning and Inspiration through Materials and Preparation to Production and Making. Comparing the differences and similarities between China and the United Kingdom enables us to better understand the potential of digital technologies for craft. For example, live streaming, an emerging digital technology at the time of the research, was already a popular way for craftmakers to engage broad audiences in China, whilst UK craftmakers tended to use personal websites, e-mails and newsletters. Craftmakers' knowledge has necessarily shifted to encompass the digital, often at the expense of precious making time. On the one hand, digital tools and processes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution have transformed many craft skills from making by hand to making by computer; on the other hand, social media and online marketplaces have changed the relationship between craftmakers and consumers and may shape which crafts flourish in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Considering consumer trends toward the use of "clean" personal care products and increasing recognition of childhood allergic contact dermatitis, we sought to characterize the allergen profile of such children's products. Methods: Ingredients of baby washes/shampoos, bubble baths, and moisturizers identified using the "Clean Baby" filter on Target®'s online marketplace were analyzed for relevant pediatric contact allergens. Results: Product compositions declared fragrance in 82% of products, Compositae in 46%, cocamidopropyl betaine in 45%, glucosides in 37%, propylene glycol in 12%, lanolin in 1%, and no allergens in 9%—methylisothiazolinone and formaldehyde were not found. Conclusion: Children are greatly impacted by atopic dermatitis and skin barrier dysfunction, which underscores a need for greater public awareness of sensitizing and irritating ingredients, particularly regarding pediatric personal care products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferating gig economy relies on online freelance marketplaces, which support relatively anonymous interactions through text-based messages. Informational asymmetries thus arise that can lead to exchange uncertainties between buyers and freelancers. Conventional marketing thought recommends reducing such uncertainty. However, uncertainty reduction and uncertainty management theories indicate that buyers and freelancers might benefit more from balancing—rather than reducing—uncertainty, such as by strategically adhering to or deviating from common communication principles. With dyadic analyses of calls for bids and bids from a leading online freelance marketplace, this study reveals that buyers attract more bids from freelancers when they provide moderate degrees of task information and concreteness, avoid sharing personal information, and limit the affective intensity of their communication. Freelancers' bid success and price premiums increase when they mimic the degree of task information and affective intensity exhibited by buyers. However, mimicking a lack of personal information and concreteness reduces freelancers' success, so freelancers should always be more concrete and offer more personal information than buyers. These contingent perspectives offer insights into buyer–seller communication in two-sided online marketplaces. They clarify that despite, or sometimes due to, communication uncertainty, both sides can achieve success in the online gig economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have significantly progressed in recent years, revolutionizing a diverse set of industries, mainly the industrial metaverse in cultural heritage and the cultural and creative sectors. In the context of social manufacturing, there's a pronounced need for platforms that foster collaboration. This paper introduces a collaborative AR/VR platform for social manufacturing, emphasizing the need for a co-creation environment. This platform supports real-time customized fabrication of 3D objects through rapid manufacturing within an AR/VR-based collaborative framework, further enhancing shared awareness in social manufacturing endeavors. The platform provides a robust toolkit for AR/VR applications that enables real-time interaction with virtual entities and seamless integration with the backend databases of online marketplaces. Designed to be universally adaptable, the toolkit is indifferent to the type of database it interacts with, and can function on a wide range of platforms including Web VR, Mobile AR, and HoloLens AR. A use case involving a reference chair model demonstrates the toolkit's capabilities, highlighting its potential to transform experiences within AR/VR landscapes. By offering a seamless fusion of digital content within physical environments, this AR/VR toolkit signifies a considerable advancement towards the intersection of digital and physical realities, paving the way of immersive experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reputation systems can mitigate opportunistic behavior and improve efficiency on online marketplaces. However, rating fraud is a major problem on many websites. We experimentally investigate the circumstances under which rating fraud undermines the functioning of a reputation system and reduces efficiency. We find that the ability to manipulate feedback received from others generally reduces the reliability of displayed ratings compared to a control treatment where rating fraud is not possible. When manipulation is possible and costless, rating fraud is widespread, ratings become less reliable, expectations are lower, and efficiency is significantly reduced. However, when there is a cost to manipulation, there is less fraud, ratings are more reliable and efficiency increases, even when the cost is comparatively low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To bolster their competitiveness and profitability, prominent e-commerce platforms have embraced dual retailing channels: self-operating channels and online marketplaces. However, a discernible trend is emerging wherein e-commerce platforms are expanding their marketplaces to encompass competitive third-party suppliers. Motivated by this trend, this study sought to examine the strategic integration of a third-party product amidst the competition between a self-operating channel and a marketplace. This investigation involved the development of a game-theoretic model involving a platform and two representative suppliers—an incumbent supplier and a new entrant. Specifically, we delved into establishing an equilibrium partnership between the platform and the new entrant supplier while also evaluating the self-operating strategy of the established supplier. Our analysis uncovered a counterintuitive outcome: an escalation in the commission rate resulted in diminished profits for the established supplier. Furthermore, we ascertained that the economic implications of a competitive product entry pivot significantly on product quality. Lastly, we demonstrated that the revenue-sharing rate plays a pivotal role in influencing the self-operating strategy of the established supplier, and the market equilibrium hinges on the interplay among product quality, the commission rate, and the revenue-sharing rate. These insights provide invaluable guidance for marketers and e-commerce platforms in their strategic decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]