Entries from May 2006 ↓

Pavlou, Paul A. and Ting Lie, "What Drives Mobile Commerce? A Model of Mobile Commerce Adoption," (2006).

Abstract.  Mobile commerce - the consumer’s engagement in online transactions with sellers using wireless devices - differs from traditional or electronic commerce due to the potential for location-specific real-time transactions and the unique attributes of wireless devices. This paper aims to understand what drives consumers to engage in mobile transactions by viewing m-commerce adoption as a process consisting of three distinct behaviors: (a) ‘getting information’ (b) ‘giving information’, and (c) ‘purchasing’ products using wireless devices. These three inter-related behaviors are first integrated, following the theory of implementation intentions. Second, following the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), each behavioral intention is predicted through its attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy and controllability). Third, a comprehensive set of salient beliefs for each behavior is elicited and tested by inductively identifying antecedents of the TPB constructs. These salient beliefs include technology acceptance variables (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use), mobile device characteristics (download delay, screen quality, and device navigability), information characteristics (informativeness and information protection), product characteristics (product value and personalization), and consumer characteristics (monetary resources and consumer skills).

An empirical study with consumers in two countries (United States and Republic of China) supports the proposed m-commerce adoption model. The differences and similarities between these two countries are discussed, and implications for the adoption of m-commerce, TPB, and the IS literature are proposed.  Download pdf.

Dimoka, Angelika and Paul A. Pavlou, "Mitigating Adverse Product and Seller Selection in Online Auction Marketplaces," (2006)

Abstract.  To overcome a market of ‘lemons’, online auction marketplaces must differentiate among products and reward high-quality ones with price premiums. However, the literature has only focused on seller quality uncertainty (seller reputation), alas ignoring the role of product quality uncertainty. It is defined as the degree by which the outcome of a transaction cannot be accurately predicted due to fears that the product’s quality may differ from what is expected. Product quality uncertainty is particularly important in used and expensive experience products, such as used automobiles, whose quality cannot be conveyed via the web interface. To address adverse product selection, this study first introduces a set of product-related variables (warranty, inspection, posted price, standard value, year and mileage) that is proposed to influence price premiums by reducing product quality uncertainty. Moreover, it proposes their interaction effects with seller reputation. The proposed econometric model is tested with a multivariate regression model with secondary data from 350,000 auctions of used cars completed on eBay Motors using a custom data mining tool. Implications for mitigating adverse product selection and preventing a market of ‘lemons’ are discussed.  Download pdf.

Gefen, David and Paul A. Pavlou, "An Inverted-U Theory of Trust:  The Moderating Role of Perceived Regulatoary Effectiveness of Online Marketplaces," (2006).

Abstract.  Past research has widely regarded trust as unconditionally facilitating transaction behavior, and perceived risk as unconditionally detracting from it. This study advocates the necessity to examine trust and perceived risk within the broader perspective of the societal context. We propose the perceived regulatory effectiveness of online marketplaces to moderate the impact of trust on transaction behavior. More specifically, we hypothesize that the degree to which buyer’s trust affects transaction intentions will vary in an inverted U manner depending on the perception buyers have in the regulatory effectiveness of the online marketplace. The impact of trust on transaction intentions will increase as the buyer’s perceived regulatory effectiveness increases from low to medium levels, but it will decrease as the buyer’s perceived effectiveness increases from medium to high levels. Moreover, the perceived regulatory effectiveness of the online marketplace is also hypothesized to reduce the impact of perceived risk on transaction intentions. These moderating effects were examined and empirically supported in the context of eBay’s and Amazon’s online auction marketplaces. Implications for integrating the perceived regulatory effectiveness of online marketplaces into existing trust and risk models are discussed.  Download pdf.

Paton, David, Donald S. Siegel, and Leighton Vaughan Willians, "The Impact of Information Technology on Service Sector Productivity:  Plant-Level Evidence From Gambling Establishments in the United Kingdom," (May 2006) 

Abstract.  There have been numerous studies of the impact of investment in information technology (IT) on manufacturing productivity (e.g., Brynjolfsson and Hitt (1996)) and Morrison (1997)), but little evidence on this relationship in services. We attempt to fill this gap, by analyzing the impact of IT on the relative productivity of gambling establishments. Ours is also the first empirical study of productivity in gambling, one of the fastest growing industries in the service sector. The econometric analysis is based on data from the Annual Respondents Database (ARD) file, consisting of individual establishment records from the U.K. Annual Census of Production. The ARD file contains detailed data on output, materials, energy, employment, and numerous plant and firm characteristics and is quite similar to the U.S.-based Longitudinal Research Database (LRD). Production function models provide an excellent fit to the data, yielding plausible elasticity estimates and indicating constant returns to scale. More importantly, we find that gambling establishments investing more heavily in computers and the Internet are more productive than comparable establishments.  Download pdf.