Group buying on the web团购外文文献.docx
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Group buying on the web团购外文文献.docx
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Groupbuyingontheweb团购外文文献
Group-BuyingOnTheWeb:
AComparisonOfPriceDiscoveryMechanisms
KrishnanS.Anand1andRaviAron2OPIMdepartment,TheWhartonSchoolUniversityofPennsylvania.
Abstract:
Web-basedGroup-Buyingmechanisms,arefinementofquantitydiscounting,arebeingusedforbothBusiness-to-Business(B2B)andBusiness-to-Consumer(B2C)transactions.Inthispaper,wesurveycurrentlyoperationalonlineGroup-Buyingmarkets,andthenstudythisphenomenonusinganalyticalmodels.WesurveyedoverfiftyactiveGroup-Buyingsites,andprovideacomprehensivereviewofGroup-BuyingpracticesintheB2B,B2Candnon-profitsectors,acrossthreecontinents.
Onthemodelingside,webuildonthecoordinationliteratureinInformationEconomicsandthequantity-discountsliteratureinOperationstodevelopananalyticalmodelofamonopolistwhousesweb-basedGroup-Buyingmechanismsunderdifferentkindsofdemanduncertainty.Wederivethemonopolist'soptimalGroup-Buyingschedule,andcomparehisprofitswiththosethatobtainunderthemoreconventionalposted-pricemechanism.Wealsostudytheeffectofheterogeneityinthedemandregimes,incombinationwithuncertainty,ontherelativeperformanceofthetwomechanisms.Wefurtherstudytheimpactofthetimingofthepricingdecision(vis-à-vistheproductiondecision)bymodelingitasatwo-stagegamebetweenthemonopolistandbuyers.Finally,weinvestigatehowGroup-Buyingschemescomparewithpostedpricemarketswhenbuyerscanrevisetheirpriorvaluationofproductsbasedoninformationreceivedfromthirdparties(infomediaries).
Inallcases,wecharacterizetheconditionsunderwhichonemechanismoutperformstheother,andthoseunderwhichthepostedpriceandGroup-Buymechanismsleadtoidenticalsellerrevenues.Ourresultshaveimplicationsforfirms'choiceofpricediscoverymechanismsinelectronicmarketsandschedulingofproductionandpricingdecisionsinthepresence(andabsence)ofscaleeconomiesofproduction.1Email:
********************.edu;Tel:
(215)8981175.2Email:
**********************.edu;Tel:
(215)5735677.
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1.Introduction
Group-Buyingschemeshavebeeninvogueforverymanyyears,particularlyinthecontextofsellingontelevisionviathepopularHomeShoppingNetwork.Web-basedvariantsofGroup-Buyinghavereceivedalotofattentionrecentlyaspartofthewaveofinnovativeonlinemarket-basedmechanismssuchasauctions,reverseauctionsandPriceline’s‘name-your-own-price’scheme.Nevertheless,unlikeinthecaseofauctions(whichhasarichhistoryofanalyticalresearchovermorethanfortyyears),Group-Buyingsorelylacksatheoreticalframework.
ThispaperdevelopsanalyticalmodelsofGroup-Buying,buildingonextantacademicresearchinthedisciplinesofOperationsManagement,EconomicsandInformationsystems.Aswedemonstrate,twostreamsofresearch—thequantity-discountsliteratureinOperationsManagementandtheliteratureonpricediscoveryunderdemanduncertaintyinInformationEconomics—serveasbuildingblockstodevelopatheoryofGroup-Buying.WecomparetheperformanceofGroup-Buyingwiththatofthemarketmechanismmostwidelyusedinelectronicmarkets—simplepostedprices—andidentifytheconditionsunderwhicheachdominates.
Theremainderofthispaperisorganizedasfollows.InthenextSection,welayoutourresearchobjectives.InSection3,weprovideacomprehensivereviewofthecurrentstateofpraxis,bysurveyingavarietyofGroup-Buyingpractices,world-wide,intheB2B,B2Candnon-profitsectors.InSection4,wereviewtherelevantpriorresearchandcommentonimportantresultsthatarerelevanttoourresearch.InSections5,6and7wedevelopthreedifferentanalyticalmodelsofdemanduncertaintyandcomparetheperformanceofthetwomarketmechanisms(Group-Buyingandpostedpricing)ineachcase.InSection8,wediscussthemanagerialimplicationsofourresearchandhighlightpossibleextensions.
Section2:
ResearchObjectives
Ourobjectiveistostudythephenomenon,widelyseenincurrentpractice,ofweb-basedGroup-Buying.Thisisaspecificinstanceoftheproliferationofcomplexprice-discoverymechanismsenabledbytheInternetandtheWorld-Wide-Web.ElectronicGroup-Buyingmarketmechanismsseektoaggregateavarietyofdisparatebuyersviatheweb—remotelyandasynchronously—essentiallybyprovidingthemprice-basedincentivestoparticipateinthemarketandbuythegood.Inwhatisaclassicvolume-discountingscheme,themarketoperatoroffersbuyerslowerpricesforhighervolumesprocuredcollectively.TheGroup-Buyingmarketsthatwesurveyedwereallcharacterizedbypricesdeclininginsalesvolumes.Further,web-basedGroup-Buyingwasalmostentirelyasynchronous—usershavetoworkagainstsomedeadlinesimposedbytheseller,buthaveconsiderableleewaytomaketheirbidsviatheinternetwithintheweek(s)duringwhichtheobjectisonsale.WeprovideadetailedexpositionofseveralkindsofelectronicGroup-BuyingmarketsinSection3.
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Weknowthatsimplepostedpricesarewidelyusedinconsumersales—intraditionalapproachessuchasretailandcatalogselling,forinstance,butalsoinweb-basedselling.WhilethewebfacilitatescomplexsellingmechanismssuchasGroup-Buying,alargerquestionishoweffectivearesuchcomplexschemes,relativetosimplepostedprices,andmoreimportantly,underwhatconditionsdotheyaddthemostvalue?
Ourstudyisfocusedonansweringtwoquestions,bothofimmediateconcerntocurrentpractice:
(i)GiventhatafirmusestheGroup-Buying(volumediscounting)marketmechanismtosellitsproduct(s),whatisitsoptimalGroup-Buying(price-quantity)schedule,andwhatareitsrevenuesunderthisschedule?
(ii)HowdoesthisoptimalGroup-Buyingschedulecomparewiththeotherwidelyusedmarketmechanism,specifically,simplepostedprices?
Specifically,whatmarketconditionsandproductcharacteristicswouldjustifytheuseofGroup-Buyingoverpostedprices?
Thepracticalapplicationofinsightsintothesetwoquestionsisobvious.Tothebestofourknowledge,ourpaperisthefirstinacademiato(i)identifyanddelineatetheGroup-Buyingmarketmechanism,(ii)developanalyticalmodelsofthismechanism,(iii)studytheoptimalsuchscheduleunderavarietyofparameterizedmarketscenarios,and(iv)analyzeitsperformancerelativetothesimplermechanismofpostedprices(listprices).
3.Group-Buying:
TheCurrentStateofPraxis
WequotethemissionstatementsoftwomarketoperatorsthatwesurveyedtoillustratethatvolumediscountinganddemandaggregationareatthecoreofGroup-Buying.
“Co-buyingisco-operativeshoppingforthe21stcentury.It'sareallysimplewayofgettingbettervaluebybringingpeopletogetherviatheInternet.Bybringingtogetherasmanymembersaspossible,LetsBuyIcannegotiatelowerpriceswithmerchantpartners(alsoreferredtoassuppliers)ormanufacturers.Themorepeople,thelowertheprices.”-L
“Themoreweare,thebiggerthenegotiationpowertowardstrustedsuppliers.Theimmediateresult?
Pricesthatfallwithouthavingtonegotiateonyourown.Themoreweare("many"),thehappierweare("happy")becauseeveryonepayslessandeveryonebenefitsfromabetterservice.”-TheHappyMany
Inourstudyofcurrentlyoperational3onlinemarkets,wefoundthatGroup-Buying(referredtoas‘co-buying’intheabovequote)isawidelydeployedprice-discoverymechanisminavarietyofmarketsandcontexts.Thesemarketsarenotlimitedtoaparticulargeographicregion(suchastheUnitedStates)oraparticularproductcategory.WewillseethattheGroup-BuyingmechanismisextensivelyusedintheUnitedStates,3Asofmid-September2002.
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Europe(includinginGermany,FranceandtheUK)andAsia(includinginIndia,Thailand,SingaporeandEgypt).Thisreviewdiscussesrepresentative,interestingexamplesofthisdeployment.GiventhelargenumberofactiveGroup-Buyingsites(wellover50),anexhaustivereviewisbeyondthescopeofthispaper;however,afairlycomprehensivelistof26representativeGroup-BuyingwebsitesfromtheB2B,B2Candnon-profitsectorsisprovidedintheAppendixattheendofthisdocument.Group-Buyingschedulesareemployedforbrandedconsumerproductsaswellasintangibleservicessuchasbandwidthandnetworksecurity,inbothbusiness-to-business(B2B)andbusiness-to-consumer(B2C)markets,andinpublicaswellasprivatemarkets.ThesemarketsarecharacterizedbythebeliefthatbothsuppliersandbuyersstandtobenefitthroughGroup-buying.Evidenceofthisbeliefisadducedbytheweb-sitesofbothbuyer[IRPG,APPA,TBG,GBP]4andsupplier[LBI,THM]consortiainavarietyofmarkets,thatprominentlytoutthebenefitsofGroup-Buyingtotheirmembers.Whilewedocumentedmarketsinthreecontinentsthatdeploythegroup-buyingmechanism,wehaverestrictedthediscussionbelowtosomeinterestinginstancesthatarerepresentativeofseveralcurrentlyoperationalmarkets,orthatemploytheoreticallyinterestingvariantsofGroup-Buying,ofrelevancetoourmodeling-basedanalysis.
TheGroup-Buyingsitee.conomy,operatedbyPricewaterhouseCoopers,isasuccessfulmarketbasedintheUS[ECON].ThisB2Bmarketallowsbuyerstopurchaseindirectgoodsandservicessuchasofficesupplies,‘temps’(temporarystaffingservices),furniture,commercialprint,computerhardware,software,telecommunications&connectivity,andcompanytravel,atsubstantiallyreducedpricesthatresultfromhigherpurchasevolumes.Membersareassuredofaninitialmaximumprice(a‘priceceiling’).Astheyplaceorders,incrementingthetotalvolumedemanded,theresultingprice-d
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