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Conference Sessions - Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of ...

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TC04<br />

3 - Is it a Fad or Necessity? Measuring the Effectiveness <strong>of</strong> Social Media<br />

on E-tailers<br />

Jun Yang, Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor, University <strong>of</strong> Houston Victoria, <strong>School</strong><br />

<strong>of</strong> Business, 14000 University Blvd, Sugar Land, TX, 77479,<br />

United States <strong>of</strong> America, yangj@uhv.edu, Jungkun Park<br />

The rapid development <strong>of</strong> online communities and social networks has dramatically<br />

changed the way how marketers usually work. Consumers actively write reviews and<br />

share their experiences on social networking sites such as Facebook, Youtube and<br />

Twitter. Instead <strong>of</strong> treating consumers as passive information receivers, marketers<br />

begin to consider consumers as active co-producers <strong>of</strong> content and information.<br />

Marketing strategies such as ‘seeding’ campaigns in online communities and firms’<br />

participation in social network sites are commonly adopted in practice. Though social<br />

media has recently become the spotlight <strong>of</strong> both practitioners and academies, there is<br />

limited research to study its impact on firms, especially on retailers. Furthermore,<br />

since the beginning <strong>of</strong> ecommerce, many studies have been conducted to identify the<br />

key determinants <strong>of</strong> successful e-tailing. However, there seems to be lack <strong>of</strong><br />

consensus on some <strong>of</strong> the factors. This study tries to fill these research gaps. We have<br />

collected a dataset on the top 500 e-tailers. The dataset contains detailed information<br />

on the features provided by each e-tailer, and its financial performance. We seek to<br />

answer the following research questions. First, we empirically identify the<br />

determinants for a successful e-tailer, since there is still lack consensus in the<br />

literature. Second, after controlling those determinants, we would like to measure the<br />

influence from social media on those e-tailers’ performances. Furthermore, we want<br />

to test whether those influences will differ across various channel structure types and<br />

across different product categories. Empirical results and managerial implications are<br />

included.<br />

■ TC04<br />

Legends Ballroom V<br />

Econometric Methods I: General<br />

Contributed Session<br />

Chair: Sridhar Narayanan, Stanford University, 518 Memorial Way,<br />

Stanford, CA, 95014, United States <strong>of</strong> America,<br />

sridhar.narayanan@stanford.edu<br />

1 - A Cigarette, a Six Pack or Porn? The Complementarity <strong>of</strong> Vices<br />

Rachel Shacham, Carlson <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Management, University <strong>of</strong><br />

Minnesota, 321 19th Avenue South, Suite 3-150, Minneapolis, MN,<br />

55401, United States <strong>of</strong> America, rshacham@umn.edu,<br />

Peter Golder, Tulin Erdem<br />

Using statistical copulas, we develop an empirical model that allows us to study the<br />

levels <strong>of</strong> complementarity between different vices while accounting for self-selection.<br />

The method developed in this study is particularly well suited to the issues that occur<br />

while studying vice (in contrast to other types <strong>of</strong> goods). In particular, we allow the<br />

level <strong>of</strong> complementarity to differ between addicts and other users. We estimate the<br />

model using a unique dataset that contains detailed individual-level data over time.<br />

2 - Handling Endogenous Regressors by Joint Estimation<br />

using Copulas<br />

Sungho Park, Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor, Arizona State University,<br />

P.O. Box 874106, Tempe, AZ, 85287, United States <strong>of</strong> America,<br />

spark104@asu.edu, Sachin Gupta<br />

We propose a method to tackle the endogeneity problem without using instrumental<br />

variables. The proposed method models the joint distribution <strong>of</strong> the endogenous<br />

regressor and the error term in the structural equation <strong>of</strong> interest (the structural<br />

error) using a copula method, and makes inferences on the model parameters by<br />

maximizing the likelihood derived from the joint distribution. Using a series <strong>of</strong><br />

simulation studies and an empirical example, we show that the proposed method<br />

captures the dependence structure between the endogeneous regressor and the<br />

structural error well enough to overcome the endogeneity problem. Other properties<br />

<strong>of</strong> the proposed method are discussed.<br />

3 - Improving Predictive Validation<br />

Steve Shugan, University <strong>of</strong> Florida, 2030 NW 24th Avenue,<br />

Gainesville, FL, 32605, United States <strong>of</strong> America, sms@ufl.edu<br />

Predictive validation is very popular in management science and marketing science<br />

for many reasons including the scientific principle that valid theories should make<br />

valid predictions. However, when predictive validation and testing use the same data,<br />

it has been shown that invalid theories can imply incorrectly specified models that<br />

defeat predictive validation. Moreover, wrong models can out-predict the true model<br />

(that represent the actual data generating process), both in-sample and out-<strong>of</strong>sample.<br />

Consequently, focusing only on fit or predictive validation can result in<br />

wrong implications. For example, as shown in the paper, better predicting response<br />

functions <strong>of</strong>ten underestimate optimal expenditures and imply wrong strategies. This<br />

paper shows (analytically and through simulation) that combining several predictive<br />

metrics allows detection <strong>of</strong> wrong response functions better than all popular extant<br />

metrics (absolute-mean-error, square-error, likelihood, and so on). The analytical<br />

pro<strong>of</strong>s show how to improve predictive validation when those wrong response<br />

functions employ dampening. Dampening is a special type <strong>of</strong> bias that (as shown in<br />

the paper) allows wrong response functions to out-predict the true response function<br />

that represents that actual response to the decision variables (e.g., price, advertising,<br />

etc.). The simulations show how to improve predictive validation in the general case.<br />

The paper also discusses the interpretation <strong>of</strong> predictive validation in terms <strong>of</strong><br />

MARKETING SCIENCE CONFERENCE – 2011<br />

20<br />

inferential statistics, a Bayesian decision perspective, the classical scientific method,<br />

and the modern machine learning theory perspective. The paper is available from the<br />

author.<br />

4 - Regression Discontinuity with Unobserved Score<br />

Sridhar Narayanan, Stanford University, 518 Memorial Way, Stanford,<br />

CA, 95014, United States <strong>of</strong> America,<br />

sridhar.narayanan@stanford.edu, Kirthi Kalyanam<br />

Regression Discontinuity (RD) designs estimate treatment effects in situations where<br />

the treatment is based on an underlying continuous ‘score’ variable, with treatment<br />

taking place if the score crosses a discete threshold and not otherwise. The local<br />

average treatment effect is measured by comparing outcomes for subjects whose<br />

scores are just above and just below the threshold, with the latter serving as a control<br />

group for the former. We extend the scope <strong>of</strong> RD to contexts where the score or the<br />

threshold are not fully observed, but only components <strong>of</strong> the score, or covariates that<br />

explain treatment are observed. The method involves estimating scores using a first<br />

stage empirical approximation, which involves fitting a binary choice model for<br />

treatment as a function <strong>of</strong> observed score components or other covariates. Next, the<br />

outcomes for individuals with estimated score just above the threshold are compared<br />

with those just below the threshold to obtain the treatment effect, as in a standard<br />

RD approach. Since a binary choice model has an inbuilt threshold <strong>of</strong> zero, this<br />

approach works even when the actual threshold on the true score function is<br />

unobserved. We show analytically the conditions under which the method uncovers<br />

a valid treatment effect. To demonstrate the methodology, we use a casino marketing<br />

setting where the exact scores used by the casino to decide on the treatment (<strong>of</strong>fers<br />

mailed to consumers) are observed. We use a Monte Carlo simulation to establish the<br />

empirical conditions required to estimate the treatment effect. Finally we show an<br />

application to pharmaceutical detailing, where the scores are unobserved. The<br />

estimates using our our proposed approach generate new insights that add to the<br />

literature.<br />

■ TC05<br />

Legends Ballroom VI<br />

New Product III: Adoption<br />

Contributed Session<br />

Chair: Mark Ratchford, Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Marketing, Vanderbilt<br />

University, Owen <strong>Graduate</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Management, 401 21st Avenue<br />

South, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States <strong>of</strong> America,<br />

Mark.Ratchford@owen.vanderbilt.edu<br />

1 - An Investigation <strong>of</strong> Scales for Consumer Innovativeness<br />

Masataka Yamada, Pr<strong>of</strong>essor, Nagoya University <strong>of</strong> Commerce and<br />

Business, 4-4 Sagamine, Komenoki-cho, Nissin-shi, 470-0193, Japan,<br />

myamada@nucba.ac.jp, Toshihiko Nagaoka<br />

Last year at Cologne, we reconsidered not only the consumer innovativeness but also<br />

the theory <strong>of</strong> innovation diffusion itself focusing on the construct <strong>of</strong> consumer<br />

innovativeness. We proposed a new way <strong>of</strong> viewing the diffusion <strong>of</strong> innovation using<br />

Carnap’s theoretical construct and disposition concept. We introduced an<br />

intermediate level <strong>of</strong> abstraction construct between theoretical construct and<br />

disposition concept. We name it T-D mixture. This study reviews the measurement<br />

scales <strong>of</strong> each level <strong>of</strong> innovativeness. Then we reposition some <strong>of</strong> the scales as the<br />

scales for the T-D mixture. We can expect better predictions <strong>of</strong> actual adoption<br />

behavior by these scales.<br />

2 - A Multivariate Analysis <strong>of</strong> Pre-acquisition Drivers <strong>of</strong><br />

Technology Adoption<br />

Mark Ratchford, Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Marketing, Vanderbilt<br />

University, Owen <strong>Graduate</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Management, 401 21st Avenue<br />

South, Nashville, TN, 37203, United States <strong>of</strong> America,<br />

Mark.Ratchford@owen.vanderbilt.edu, Jeffrey Dotson<br />

This study develops and empirically tests a new parsimonious multiple-item scale to<br />

measure consumers’ propensities to adopt new technologies. We show that a<br />

consumer’s likelihood to embrace new technologies can reliably be measured by a 14item<br />

index that combines assessments <strong>of</strong> consumers’ positive and negative attitudes<br />

towards technology. Consistent with prior work on technology readiness, we show<br />

four distinct dimensions <strong>of</strong> consumers’ technology adoption propensity: two<br />

inhibiting factors, dependence and vulnerability, and two contributing factors,<br />

optimism and pr<strong>of</strong>iciency. We develop the index on a cross-sectional dataset <strong>of</strong> U.S.<br />

consumers then establish the validity <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong> the four component scales on two<br />

dissimilar validation sets. Next, using a multivariate probit model, respondents’ scores<br />

on the resulting index sub-scales are combined with demographic factors to examine<br />

the antecedents <strong>of</strong> adoption <strong>of</strong> a range <strong>of</strong> technologies. Distinct segments <strong>of</strong> adopters<br />

emerge. The results are <strong>of</strong> interest to practitioners interested in learning about the<br />

drivers <strong>of</strong> technology adoption for new products.

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