Title
Seller Search and Market Outcomes in Online Auctions
Abstract
It has become widely accepted that information technology (IT) has had a profound influence on market transactions, with lower search costs for buyers often considered the key to lower prices and higher consumer welfare. However, sellers also use online channels to search for buyers whose product preferences and valuations match the sellers' offerings, and limited research has examined the impact of IT on sellers' search strategies or associated market outcomes. In this study, we investigate how market characteristics, the length of time the seller searches the auction marketplace for a buyer, and seller search in other websites influence the final sale price in online auctions. The online auction market for used vehicles provides a valuable opportunity to observe search processes of sellers, as the unique vehicle identification number associated with each vehicle enables the tracking of an individual item across both subsequent auctions and across other websites. We find that the market characteristics, duration of search, and search in other websites are each associated with a higher final sale price. Our findings highlight the importance of examining both buyer and seller search behaviors to further our understanding of the impacts of IT on market outcomes and efficiency.
Year
DOI
Venue
2010
10.1287/mnsc.1100.1216
Management Science
Keywords
Field
DocType
associated market outcome,search strategy,online auctions,lower search cost,market transaction,market outcomes,search process,seller search,market characteristic,market outcome,seller search behavior,online auction market,search cost,information technology
Transaction cost,Economics,Advertising,Information technology,Microeconomics,Common value auction,Search cost,Forward auction,Valuation (finance),Bidding,Voluntary exchange,Marketing
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
56
10
0025-1909
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
8
0.61
15
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Jason Kuruzovich1475.23
Siva Viswanathan232729.10
Ritu Agarwal35700318.22