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This paper aims to investigate how competition among online auction sellers influences the setting of both open and secret reserve prices, thereby affecting auction outcome.

Using a data set collected from eBay consisting of 787 identical product auctions, three empirical models have been proposed. Model 1 simultaneously estimates the effects of auction competition on a seller’s own open and secret reserve price strategies; Model 2 estimates the effects of auction competition on bidder participation; and Model 3 estimates the direct and indirect effects of auction competition on selling price.

Competition among sellers is central to shaping sellers’ reserve price strategies. When there are more concurrent auctions for identical items, sellers tend to specify a low open reserve and are less likely to set a secret reserve. Sellers are strongly influenced by competitors’ reserve price strategies, and tend to follow competition. Finally, auction competition and competitive reserve price strategies influence both bidder entry and selling prices.

This study has important implications for both sellers and bidders. It highlights the importance for sellers to adapt their reserve price strategies in light of their competitors’ reserve price strategies and offers implications for bidders regarding auction selection. An auction with low starting bid does not necessarily lead to a lower selling price as it attracts more bidders.

This paper focuses on competition among auction sellers, whereas previous literature has focused on competition among bidders. This paper is the first to study the impact of competing reserve prices in auctions.

The endowment effect is arguably one of the most robust phenomena documented in economics, behavioral decision theory and consumer research. However, the endowment effect has traditionally been studied as a fairly static phenomenon at the transactional level of analysis.

This paper documents this “contagious” endowment effect using lab experiments and such field data as eBay transactions and discuss the managerial implication of these findings.

This study suggests that the endowment effect is not limited to the level of the specific object, but can manifest itself with the more abstract class of objects to which a specific object happens to belong.

A logical next step would be to examine the boundary conditions – how similar does the subsequent object have to be for the endowment effect to transfer over to it? A related aspect would be whether there are boundary conditions arising from the quality of the endowment.

The effects reported here probably underlie the success of the many types of “bait and switch” schemes that have been used by the more unsavory type of marketer. As such, these findings might have implications for policy in the area of consumer protection.

This paper argues for and presents evidence consistent with the notion that the endowment effect is dynamic and can be transferred from one transaction to another and refer to this generalization of the endowment effect to other, similar products as “contagious endowment.”

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for organics.

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data at five retail stores in metropolitan Bangkok. Exploratory factor analysis and the double-bound contingent valuation method were used for analysis.

Results indicate WTP premiums of 88, 51 and 51 per cent for kale, jasmine rice and pork, respectively. Analysis indicates that respondents are willing to pay a premium if they have already purchased organic products, have good health, strong ethical and environmental concerns, think that organic products provide greater quality and health benefits, and reside in the city. Respondents with children, however, are less likely to pay a premium for organic products. Analysis also indicates that the price premium hinders purchase.

Efforts should be made by policymakers, together with marketers and producers, to lower the price of organic products to attract more consumers.

To enlarge the organic market, one must understand consumers’ preferences for organic products and the premium they will pay for them. This is not well-researched. Though several studies have investigated consumers’ behaviour towards environmentally friendly products in Thailand, there is little research on WTP. This lack is a major impediment to the growth of organic consumption and the development of organic product markets.

Describes the process for conducting downward price business‐to‐business online auctions over the Internet for direct material purchasing and presents common issues, process improvement opportunities, and the interpretation of auction results. Comparisons are made between online auctions and traditional procurement process. Also discussed are stakeholder reactions and the organizational issues generated when online auctions are introduced to traditional purchasing organizations, as well as the benefits to buyers and sellers. The author proposes that online auctions will delay the adoption of modern supply chain management methods and the implementation of lean production that are needed by both buyers and suppliers in order to truly eliminate waste and reduce total costs.

IT IS TO BE hoped that by the time these words are being read the dispute over the Electricians' Union and the TUC will have been solved; and, we hope, with satisfaction to both parties.

The growth of research on the cognitive origins of market performance has focused on the impact of categories as a primary cognitive mechanism by which exchange occurs. In this research, performance outcomes are typically reduced when firms and products fail to meet audiences’ expectations about membership into categories. The ensuing literature has focused on spanning categories as evidence of not meeting audience expectations while largely ignoring the specific study of expectations themselves. This chapter argues that expectations for market behavior are important in their own right, and can impact market outcomes even when categorical boundaries are respected. Using the market for engagement rings as a setting, I show how lack of adherence to expectations can both increase and decrease market value even as the engagement rings adhere to categorical boundaries. Rather than simply focusing on category spanning as evidence that audience expectations have not been met, the findings suggest that expectations should be considered explicitly, with implications for competitive strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study into aggregated procurement in digitally clustered organisations. It brings together key principles including business clustering, e‐procurement, aggregation and buyer‐seller relationships. The paper identifies complexities associated with conducting reverse auctions for clustered organisations.

A case study of a reverse auction carried out by an independent intermediary forms the basis of the paper. Data presented and analysed include pre‐auction and auction performance of participants.

Aggregating company spend and sourcing through reverse auctions poses several challenges. These include a selection of suitable products and services, the behaviour of buyers and sellers in a clustered environment and the identification of a suitable business model for the independent intermediary. It also indicates that not all participants may benefit or benefit significantly from clustered auctions.

Understanding of participant behaviour before, during and after e‐reverse auctions in single and clustered organisations needs to be better understood. Differences in the mechanisms between single buyer and multiple buyer auctions also need more clarity.

For clustered reverse auctions, there is a need to identify products with low build complexity and significant value‐add. Otherwise, it may be necessary to form “clusters within the cluster” in order to attain true aggregation.

This study examines participant actions in intermediary‐facilitated multi‐buyer and multi‐seller e‐reverse auctions. It identifies a number of behavioural issues that relate to this context and that impact on the success of auctions in a digital cluster context.

The need for reliable information for decision makers is a fundamental principle underlying the demand for audit and assurance services. Yet, individuals and companies often do not understand the value that users place on independent third‐party assurance. This paper aims to address this issue.

This paper uses the market for baseball cards to provide an empirical analysis of the value users associate with third‐party assurance services. Paired observations for baseball cards are identified on eBay; one with a third‐party assurance regarding its quality and one with only the seller's statement.

Comparative analysis indicates that bidders are willing to pay significantly more for the items when third‐party assurance was provided.

These findings indicate that third‐party assurance is valued by consumers, and where information asymmetry exists between buyer and seller, sellers should consider the use of third‐party assurance to increase sale price.

Purpose – This study aims to introduce an application of web‐based data mining that integrates online data collection and data mining in selling strategies for online auctions. This study seeks to illustrate the process of spider online data collection from eBay and the application of the classification and regression tree (CART) in constructing effective selling strategies. Design/methodology/approach – After developing a prototype of web‐based data mining, the four steps of spider online data collection and CART data mining are shown. A business dataset from eBay is collected, and the application to derive effective selling strategies for online auctions is used. Findings – In the web‐based data‐mining application the spiders can effectively and efficiently collect online auction data from the internet, and the CART model provides sellers with effective selling strategies. By using expected auction prices with the classification and regression trees, sellers can integrate their two primary goals, i.e. auction success and anticipated prices, in their selling strategies for online auctions. Practical implications – This study provides sellers with a useful tool to construct effective selling strategies by taking advantage of web‐based data mining. These effective selling strategies will help improve their online auction performance. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature by providing an innovative tool for collecting online data and for constructing effective selling strategies, which are important for the growth of electronic marketplaces.

Project alliancing – a project delivery model used in delivering complex projects – demands new organizational capabilities for successful project implementation. The purpose of this paper is to define the concept of project alliance (PA) capability and to identify the elements that constitute an organization’s PA capability.

This study provides empirical evidence of PA capability based on an investigation of participants’ experiences of Finnish construction and infrastructure alliance projects. The adopted research approach is qualitative and inductive.

The paper conceptualizes PA capability and defines the elements that constitute an organization’s PA capability, including important activities in the pre-formation, development and post-formation phases of PAs and the contractual, behavioral, relational, and operational skills that organizations need for successful alliance project initiation and implementation.

The identified alliance project activities are targets for routinization and best practices that organizations can deploy from one project to another. The identified skills indicate areas in which organizations should build and develop expertise.

There is limited empirical research on the elements defining an organization’s capability to bid, manage and operate in alliance projects. This study presents some preliminary thoughts to augment knowledge of the successful initiation and management of alliance projects and to suggest why some organizations may be more successful than others in alliance projects.