„Deal of the Day“-Plattformen: Was treibt die Kundenloyalität?

“Deal of the Day” (DoD) platforms have quickly become popular by offering savings on local services, products and vacations. For merchants, these platforms represent a new marketing channel to advertise their products and services and attract new customers. DoD platform providers, however, struggle to maintaining a stable market share and profitability, because entry and switching costs are low. To sustain a competitive market position, DoD providers are looking for ways to build a loyal customer base. However, research examining the determinants of user loyalty in this novel context is scarce. To fill this gap, this study employs Grounded Theory methodology to develop a conceptual model of customer loyalty to a DoD provider. In the next step, qualitative insights are enriched and validated using quantitative data obtained in a survey with 202 DoD users. We find that customer loyalty is in large part driven by monetary incentives, but can be eroded if impressions from merchant encounter are below expectations. In addition, enhancing the share of deals relevant for consumers, i.e. signal-to-noise ratio, and mitigating perceived risks of a transaction emerge as challenges. Beyond theoretical value, our results offer practical insights into how customer loyalty to a DoD provider can be promoted.     

When guanxi meets structural holes: Exploring the guanxi networks of Chinese entrepreneurs on digital platforms

In this exploratory study, we investigate how Chinese entrepreneurs on digital platforms interact and leverage guanxi (a system of relationships and social network) to buffer the negative impacts of structural holes on knowledge orchestration. We develop our research model and formulate ten hypotheses by drawing on the literature. We adopt a mixed-methods research approach in which we use quantitative surveys to test the hypotheses, and qualitative interviews to explain why certain relationships are stronger in one stage of entrepreneurial development than the other. The study contributes to the literature on digital entrepreneurship in two ways. First, this study offers an initial understanding of the dynamics of guanxi networks for knowledge mobilisation and knowledge coordination across start-up and growth stages of Chinese entrepreneurs on digital platforms. Second, by drawing on the relevant literature, our findings extend the current understanding of knowledge orchestration of digital entrepreneurs and contribute to the literatures of structural holes theory and guanxi.     

How do tax compliance labels impact sharing platform consumers? An empirical study on the interplay of trust,moral, and intention to book

The platform economy has generated various new and highly successful business models. However, certain models facilitate tax evasion for service providers on their income earned on these platforms. While tax evasion contradicts the pro-social claim of many sharing platforms, it is unclear whether a provider’s tax honesty constitutes a value for consumers at all. This study investigates the role of tax compliance for platform users by employing an online experiment (\(n=286\)). The results indicate that consumers perceive providers’ tax compliance and consider it as a trust-enhancing signal. In further analysis, we find that consumers’ moral norms moderate both the signal’s trust-building effect as well as the relation between trust and transaction intention. In light of recent policy debates around taxing the platform economy, this study provides valuable practical insights for tax legislators.

     

On web user tracking of browsing patterns for personalised advertising

On today’s Web, users trade access to their private data for content and services. App and service providers want to know everything they can about their users, in order to improve their product experience. Also, advertising sustains the business model of many websites and applications. Efficient and successful advertising relies on predicting users’ actions and tastes to suggest a range of products to buy. Both service providers and advertisers try to track users’ behaviour across their product network. For application providers this means tracking users’ actions within their platform. For third-party services following users, means being able to track them across different websites and applications. It is well known how, while surfing the Web, users leave traces regarding their identity in the form of activity patterns and unstructured data. These data constitute what is called the user’s online footprint. We analyse how advertising networks build and collect users footprints and how the suggested advertising reacts to changes in the user behaviour.     

Value creation in software service platforms

In order to benefit from operating an IT service platform (e.g., SaaS platform), platform providers need to find a way to keep their existing users and application services active sources of value. However, the understanding of how to achieve that is limited due to the newness of this kind of business. This paper investigates whether all stakeholders of the platform ecosystem can generate sufficient value when participating in the platform. As stakeholders, we consider application service users, service developers, and service platform providers. We also analyse the interrelationship between these stakeholders. The analysis outcome is a value creation model that allows the calculation of the stakeholders’ values. The model also helps inferring the relative impact of different factors on the evolution of values of the software service platform stakeholders. Our simulation results confirm that all stakeholders of a service platform mainly benefit from a growing installed base of application users. However, in a mature market, a large service variety mainly benefits the service platform provider, while the other stakeholders obtain a reduced increase in their benefits. In particular, the utility growth of application users becomes constrained as the benefit from new connections with other users decreases and the number of new services used decreases. Similarly, the revenue of service developer decreases, making service development less profitable. Therefore, we can state that not only a large fraction of the value creation goes to the platform provider but also that the software service ecosystem can collapse, if no mutually beneficial pricing of services is implemented.     

Commerce-oriented revenue models for content providers: an experimental study of commerciality’s effect on credibility

If content providers want to build successful businesses on the Internet, they have to establish viable revenue models online. Because selling content or ads is less profitable online than offline, content providers have begun to generate revenues by selling products or services related to their content. However, this incentivizes content providers to increase sales by manipulating their content and thus may harm the content’s credibility. We conducted a vignette-based online experiment to test the effect of content providers’ revenue models on the credibility of two different types of content. Although our results revealed significant differences between revenue models for one of the content types, we did not find evidence that users distrust content providers employing commerce-oriented revenue models. Our findings shed light on the relationship between credibility and monetization of content on the Internet and provide helpful insights for practitioners in the media industry regarding optimal revenue generation strategies.     

Customer oriented resource allocation framework in cognitive radio

Spectrum is among the most heavily regulated and expensive resource around the world. In an effort to improve the efficiency of its usage, alternative spectrum allocation models are being proposed. One of these approaches is the Dynamic Spectrum Access which allows the cognitive radio to use or share the spectrum in an opportunistic manner. This paper proposes a framework for an architecture where unutilized bands are relicensed to different service providers on a short term basis. This framework focuses on the resource allocation process of these leased bands to customers. The proposed model could be utilized as a decision support tool which both satisfies the quality of service requirements of individual users and achieve an efficient utilization of network resources. The hypothesis is that customer information yields an efficient customer-oriented resource management strategy; therefore the allocation process integrates the information about the customer demographics and usage behavior. Simulations with real-life scenarios in cellular networks have been performed: handoff decision, resource allocation at call initiation and profit maximization in allocation of mobile base stations. In each case, the results show that the proposed model performs better in terms of revenue increase when compared to the First-Come First-Serve based approach. The simulation results prove that the population size of a customer group is not always an indicator for higher revenue for a service provider.     

IaaS云服务定价机制的仿真研究

定价机制是影响云计算用户利益和云服务提供商收益的关键因素。本文以IaaS云服务定价机制为研究对象,首先将IaaS云服务定价机制分为固定定价和动态定价2大类,其中固定定价细分为即用即付费和预订定价2种,从理论上分析2类定价机制对IaaS云服务提供商收益的影响;然后,分别建立即用即付费和预订定价机制下IaaS云服务提供商的收益模型,并用启发式算法构建动态定价机制下IaaS云服务提供商的收益模型;最后,基于Repast Simphony建立多主体仿真模型,比较分析3种不同定价机制下IaaS云服务提供商的收益。研究结果表明,随着服务时长和顾客数量的增加,动态定价机制更能为IaaS云服务提供商带来更多收益,同时IaaS云服务提供商可以通过改变服务等级和资源价格等相关参数,改变顾客行为,使顾客数量增加,从而提高收益。     

基于可信第三方实现多云平台的交互和选择

随着云计算商业模式的成功推进,形成了三大主流的云计算服务模式:平台即服务、软件即服务和基础架构即服务。传统行业的供应商纷纷加入云计算的队伍。但由于激烈的竞争环境,使得云计算的标准化道路举步维艰,致使跨平台的交互和移植难以实现。同时,由于对不同的云平台没有形成统一可信的评价标准,使得众多的平台服务让用户无从选择。本文通过具体分析各种应用场景对跨平台服务的需求,得出构建"跨平台即服务"模式的必要性和必然性,提出利用可信第三方来实现"跨平台即服务"模式,给出跨平台的数据交互和移植行为在可信第三方监控下的规范化流程,并提出以可信第三方为中心的云平台安全和信誉评价标准,为企业选择合适的云平台提供参考。     

Growing with others: A longitudinal study of an evolving multi‐sided disruptive platform

Multi‐sided platforms are becoming increasingly relevant in understanding industry changes. The literature has focused on the inception and growth of platforms, neglecting how entrants develop and grow disruptive platforms. To address this shortcoming, we study an entrant that was spun off from an established catalog retailer and is steering a multi‐sided disruptive platform in the German fashion retail industry. We conduct a longitudinal study on how the entrant leverages the relationships with its multiple platform sides during 2014–2019 by analyzing secondary data using topic modeling and qualitative content analysis. We propose three levers: (1) “guarded inception,” which is the collaboration with a knowledgeable partner unaffected by disruption to quickly overcome the chicken‐and‐egg problem; (2) “activating force multipliers,” which is the strategic orchestration of complementors being contractually tied to the entrant and working to extend the entrant's value network. Enabled by these two levers, the entrant was (3) “building on others” to develop the platform along a disruptive path while circumventing internal limitations and external resistance. We contribute to the intersection of the literature strands on platform and disruptive innovation by showing how the entrant strategically leveraged its different platform sides over time to develop and grow a disruptive platform.     

Relational and institutional embeddedness of Web‐enabled entrepreneurial networks: case studies of netrepreneurs in China

Drawing from a multidisciplinary literature, we form a theoretical perspective of the social embeddedness of economic activity as interpersonal ties that are formed in relation to the institutions of an economy. From this perspective, we then seek to explain the emergence of networks of micro‐entrepreneurs that conduct their business on the Taobao Web platform in China, and we derive theoretical propositions about the social embeddedness of Web platform‐based economic activity. Two case studies of such networks show how Web platform tools and services create conditions of possibility for developing online business by micro‐entrepreneurs and for overcoming cultural reluctance of economic exchange with strangers. Our research suggests that economic activity on Web platforms is embedded in a mix of virtual and community‐based relations that are shaped by and alter the behavioural norms of a local culture. It also points to the government and the corporate Web platform service provider as important organisational actors enabling the creation of entrepreneurial networks.     

Topology,typology, and dynamics of commons‐based peer production: On platforms,actors, and innovation in the maker movement

In this paper, we aim to present a comprehensive analysis on the emerging phenomenon of distributed innovation in commons‐based peer production (CBPP) platforms. Starting with the exploration of the widely held belief on value‐creation confined to industrial settings, we raise several questions regarding the feasibility of, and a need for, an inclusive innovation process that can tap grassroots capacity into both traditional (industrial research and development) and emerging (peer‐to‐peer) innovation models to yield sustainable solutions. In particular, we explore the emergence and structuration of digital innovations in the maker movement, as it presents an alternative construct of innovation wherein access to and sharing of knowledge is predominantly distributed. With innovation outcomes often freely revealed, its very structuration could pose a principal challenge to our conceptualizations of value creation and competitive advantage in the current economic model. Drawing from responses received from 200 collaborative innovation platforms, six semi‐structured interviews focusing on socio‐technical innovation cases, as well as four in‐depth narrative interviews with maker turned entrepreneurs, we present a detailed analysis on the topology of network, typology of actors, as well as the underlying innovation ecosystem in CBPP networks in Germany. In doing so, we contribute to the conceptualization of peer‐to‐peer distributed innovations in collaborative platforms.     

基于众筹预售和众包生产的两阶段最优定价机制

为实现农产品产销供应链中按需生产,供需平衡的同时,提高电商平台的期望收益。分析了电商平台整个产销供应链的问题模型,提出一种基于电子商务平台众筹预售和众包生产的产销模式。基于迈尔森最优拍卖理论设计了众筹预售和众包分配的两阶段最优拍卖定价机制,能够在保证参与用户诚实报价的基础上,同时最大化电商平台的期望收益。实验结果表明,对比传统的先到先服务算法（FCFS）,平均收益在需求数量区间为均匀分布时至少增加了5%,为指数分布时至少增加了18%,且至少能达到假设用户诚实报价下的最优利润（OP）收益的50%。     

数字货币交易匿名性与监管的博弈分析

通过利用区块链等技术,数字货币作为一种新型货币资产推动了数字经济的发展。数字货币交易平台在数字货币用户对私有数字货币使用中占有重要角色。现有的数字货币交易平台可能存在泄露用户个人隐私的风险,为不法分子提供参与“空投”事件、勒索、骗局等各种异常交易行为的条件;数字货币交易平台对用户强匿名性保护也会增加监管部门对于数字货币交易情况的监管难度。因此数字货币交易平台选择对用户的匿名性保护的强弱不仅需要考虑用户的个人隐私安全,而且要考虑如何符合监管部门对其监管工作的要求。基于对数字货币交易平台和监管部门之间关系的分析,建立演化博弈模型,对数字货币交易平台与监管博弈模型进行定义和构建,根据数字货币交易平台与监管部门收益矩阵求解复制动态方程并得出均衡解。通过构建雅可比矩阵对演化系统在不同参数取值下的均衡点进行稳定性分析,并分析在不同情况下,数字货币交易平台与监管部门的演化稳定选择及策略。结合Matlab实验环境,对数字货币交易平台的强弱匿名性保护策略和监管部门的强弱监管策略进行仿真实验,验证博弈模型的准确性。结合实验结果,提出对数字货币交易平台的监管建议,为我国将来开展数字货币交易平台的监管工作提供...     

Effect of linguistic disfluency on consumer satisfaction: Evidence from an online knowledge payment platform

The popularity of online knowledge payment platforms enables online users to disseminate paid knowledge via voice communication. However, such communication provided by users with little professional teaching skills commonly tends to contain linguistic disfluency, which is a potential determinant of consumer satisfaction of paid knowledge products. This study examines how linguistic disfluency inherent in paid knowledge products impacts consumer satisfaction and the moderating effects of two consumer knowledge aspects, namely expertise and familiarity. Based on processing fluency theory, we build a theoretical model to illuminate relationships between consumer satisfaction, linguistic disfluency, and consumer knowledge. Leveraging data from Zhihu Live, a leading online knowledge payment platform, we find that linguistic disfluency is negatively associated with consumer satisfaction; nevertheless, this negative association disappears or turns into a positive effect for consumers with high expertise and low familiarity. Our study offers implications for platforms to accomplish high consumer satisfaction and further improve user retention and revenue.     

Provider experience and order selection in the sharing economy

The sharing economy, enabled by digital platforms, which connect providers and consumers for peer-to-peer exchanges, experienced rapid growth in recent years. Although researchers attempted to explore the societal or business impact of the sharing economy market, little is known about how individual providers operate their businesses, given that providers are capacity-constrained, self-scheduled and unprofessional. In this study, we are interested in the relationship between experience and providers' order selection behaviours. Leveraging a rich and proprietary dataset from a large sharing economy platform—which facilitates the exchanges of home-cooked meals in China—and employing multiple identification strategies and estimation methods, we find that the number of orders declined by a provider first increases with their experience, but later decreases. However, their sales revenue keeps increasing with experience. Our investigation further reveals that this happens because providers adjust their order selection strategies at different experience levels to achieve higher revenue in the sharing economy. Our study is among the pioneering studies to empirically understand providers' market behaviours in the sharing economy and offers important practical implications.     

What to do after a data breach? Examining apology and compensation as response strategies for health service providers

Innovative IT-enabled health services promise tremendous benefits for customers and service providers alike. Simultaneously, health services by nature process sensitive customer information, and data breaches have become an everyday phenomenon. The challenge that health service providers face is to find effective recovery strategies after data breaches to retain customer trust and loyalty. We theorize and investigate how two widely applied recovery actions (namely apology and compensation) affect customer reactions after a data breach in the specific context of fitness trackers. Drawing on expectation confirmation theory, we argue that the recovery actions derived from practice, apology, and compensation address the assimilation-contrast model’s tolerance range and, thus, always lead to satisfaction with the recovery strategy, which positively influences customers’ behavior. We employ an experimental investigation and collect data from fitness tracker users during a running event. In the end, we found substantial support for our research model. Health service providers should determine specific customer expectations and align their data breach recovery strategies accordingly.

     

Peer‐to‐peer financing choice of SME entrepreneurs in the re‐emergence of supply chain localization

While peer‐to‐peer (P2P) financing mechanisms have recently gained significant popularity, small and medium sized enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs still harbor a considerable degree of skepticism about the role of governments in promoting alternative supply chain finance (SCF) solutions in the re‐emergence of supply chain (SC) localization. This paper studies the SC financing problem of a capital‐constrained SME entrepreneur under two alternative financing schemes provided by an online P2P lending‐investment platform, namely debt financing (DF) and equity financing (EF). Considering the competition between a local and a foreign SC in a shared market, we investigate the direct (i.e., subsidizing domestic production) and indirect (i.e., subsidizing P2P platform service fee) roles of government intervention toward SC localization. Formulating a three‐level Stackelberg game model, this paper presents a scenario‐based decision‐making framework to jointly evaluate four different SCF scenarios through the lens of local SC, P2P financing platforms, and government. The results reveal that there exist three possible regions (i.e., DF, EF, and Conflict), within which the government and the P2P financing platforms can examine the alternative SCF schemes in order to achieve a mutually agreeable agreement. Our sensitivity analysis on interest rate and exchange ratio suggests that, when financed via an online P2P lending platform (i.e., DF), the local SC always achieves a higher profit under the direct intervention policy. The indirect policy, however, is preferred only when EF is the main source of SCF and the exchange ratio is sufficiently high.     

Decentralized cloud manufacturing-as-a-service (CMaaS) platform architecture with configurable digital assets

Contemporary Cloud Manufacturing-as-a-Service (CMaaS) platforms now promise customers instant pricing and access to a large capacity of manufacturing nodes. However, many of the CMaaS platforms are centralized with data flowing through an intermediary agent connecting clients with service providers. This paper reports the design, implementation and validation of middleware software architectures which aim to directly connect client users with manufacturing service providers while improving transparency, data integrity, data provenance and retaining data ownership to its creators. In the first middleware, clients have the ability to directly customize and configure parts parametrically, leading to an instant generation of downstream manufacturing process plan codes. In the second middleware, clients can track the data provenance generated in a blockchain based decentralized architecture across a manufacturing system. The design of digital assets across a distributed manufacturing system infrastructure controlled by autonomous smart contracts through Ethereum based ERC-721 non-fungible tokens is proposed to enable communication and collaboration across decentralized CMaaS platform architectures. The performance of the smart contracts was evaluated on three different global Ethereum blockchain test networks with the centrality and dispersion statistics on their performance provided as a reference benchmark for future smart contract implementations.