Customer reviews reduce search cost and uncertainty about a product’s quality. Hence, the quantity and quality of reviews has positive impacts on purchase intentions, sales, and customer satisfaction. In order to increase review quality, retailers and online platforms employ different monetary incentives. We experimentally compare two different incentive schemes: an incentive scheme in which reviewers receive a flat salary, which is independent of review quality, and a tournament incentive scheme in which the reviewer who wrote the most helpful review receives a bonus payment. Helpfulness ratings are assigned by the other reviewers. In our experiment, adverse consequences arise under the tournament incentive scheme. Strategic considerations give rise to strategic downvoting, so that reviewers assign low helpfulness ratings to others’ reviews in order to maximize their expected payoffs. Review writing behavior remains unaffected: the tournament incentive scheme does not affect review quality. However, it does destroy the signaling power of helpfulness ratings.
In the present research, we test the mechanisms (Studies 1a and 1b, conducted online), consequences, and limitations (Study 2, conducted in the lab) of anthropomorphizing autonomous (vs. manual) products. Building on previous theoretical and empirical research on product anthropomorphism, we argue and find that anthropomorphism is perceived to be more congruent with autonomous products than with manual products. Furthermore, we show that anthropomorphism increases the liking of autonomous products, given that consumers have no prior experience with autonomous products. Increased liking of autonomous products due to anthropomorphism, in turn, increases purchase intentions and positive evaluations of outcomes obtained by the autonomous product. The findings are discussed with regard to optimal marketing and design of autonomous products.
Shares of open-end real estate funds are typically traded directly between the investor and the fund management company. However, we provide empirical evidence for the growth of secondary market activities, i.e., the trading of shares on stock exchanges. We find high trading levels in situations where the fund management company suspends the issue or redemption of shares. Shares trade at a discount when the fund management company suspends the redemption, whereas shares trade at a premium when the fund management company suspends the issue. We also find evidence that secondary market trading activity is increasing since German regulation introduced a minimum holding period and a mandatory notice period for open-end real estate funds.
We set up a multiperiod, CAPM-type model with imperfect competition between investors in case of an additional price-insensitive market participant. The motivation for this additional actor comes from the ECB's announcement to buy a substantial amount of securities "whatever it takes" which reflects the willingness to trade in a entirely price-inelastic way. Our model explains the effects on demand functions, equilibrium prices, portfolio holdings and investors' expected utility. The interaction of price-inelastic additional demand by the ECB, on the one hand, and imperfect competition, on the other hand, causes differentiated results regarding timing strategies, development of prices over time, and utility implications.
In the present research, we test the mechanisms (Studies 1a and 1b, conducted online), consequences, and limitations (Study 2, conducted in the lab) of anthropomorphizing autonomous (vs. manual) products. Building on previous theoretical and empirical research on product anthropomorphism, we argue and find that anthropomorphism is perceived to be more congruent with autonomous products than with manual products. Furthermore, we show that anthropomorphism increases the liking of autonomous products, given that consumers have no prior experience with autonomous products. Increased liking of autonomous products due to anthropomorphism, in turn, increases purchase intentions and positive evaluations of outcomes obtained by the autonomous product. The findings are discussed with regard to optimal marketing and design of autonomous products.
