Citation

Discussion Paper Details

Please find the details for DP6939 in an easy to copy and paste format below:

Full Details   |   Bibliographic Reference

Full Details

Title: Buying Online: Sequential Decision Making by Shopbot Visitors

Author(s): Uwe Dulleck, Franz Hackl, Bernhard Weiss and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer

Publication Date: August 2008

Keyword(s): decision theory, e-commerce, heuristics, price comparison and seller reputation

Programme Area(s): Industrial Organization

Abstract: In this article we propose a two stage procedure to model demand decisions by customers who are balancing several dimensions of a product. We then test our procedure by analyzing the behavior of buyers from an Austrian price comparison site. Although in such a market a consumer will typically search for the cheapest price for a given product, reliability and service of the supplier are other important characteristics of a retailer. In our data, consumers follow such a two stage procedure: they select a shortlist of suppliers by using the price variable only; finally, they trade off reliability and price among these shortlisted suppliers.

For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=6939

Bibliographic Reference

Dulleck, U, Hackl, F, Weiss, B and Winter-Ebmer, R. 2008. 'Buying Online: Sequential Decision Making by Shopbot Visitors'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=6939