Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1177/00222429261422744
Yijing Li, Angela Yi Gao, Flora F. Gu, Fine F. Leung
Influencer marketing has emerged as a prevalent marketing strategy for firms seeking to engage target customers, with significant research identifying various criteria for influencer selection. However, the role of endorsement rate—the proportion of an influencer’s brand-sponsored posts relative to their total social media posts—remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating how influencers’ endorsement rates affect the effectiveness of their subsequent sponsored posts. Using a multimethod approach, including two field studies and two controlled experiments across diverse platform contexts (e.g., Instagram, Twitter, Douyin), the findings reveal a consistent U-shaped relationship between endorsement rate and consumer engagement with sponsored posts. This pattern arises from the interplay of two countervailing forces: a higher endorsement rate enhances the influencer’s perceived brand recognition, yet it simultaneously raises audience suspicion of manipulative intent. Notably, organic product mentions and consistent brand endorsements can attenuate the impact of endorsement rates on consumer engagement. Beyond advancing research in influencer marketing and brand endorsements, these findings offer marketers a valuable framework for evaluating influencers and making more informed selections.
{"title":"EXPRESS: Endorsement Rate in Influencer Marketing","authors":"Yijing Li, Angela Yi Gao, Flora F. Gu, Fine F. Leung","doi":"10.1177/00222429261422744","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261422744","url":null,"abstract":"Influencer marketing has emerged as a prevalent marketing strategy for firms seeking to engage target customers, with significant research identifying various criteria for influencer selection. However, the role of endorsement rate—the proportion of an influencer’s brand-sponsored posts relative to their total social media posts—remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating how influencers’ endorsement rates affect the effectiveness of their subsequent sponsored posts. Using a multimethod approach, including two field studies and two controlled experiments across diverse platform contexts (e.g., Instagram, Twitter, Douyin), the findings reveal a consistent U-shaped relationship between endorsement rate and consumer engagement with sponsored posts. This pattern arises from the interplay of two countervailing forces: a higher endorsement rate enhances the influencer’s perceived brand recognition, yet it simultaneously raises audience suspicion of manipulative intent. Notably, organic product mentions and consistent brand endorsements can attenuate the impact of endorsement rates on consumer engagement. Beyond advancing research in influencer marketing and brand endorsements, these findings offer marketers a valuable framework for evaluating influencers and making more informed selections.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"88 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146070179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1177/00222429261422755
Cristel Antonia Russell, Anne Hamby, Stephanie Feiereisen, Hope Jensen Schau
Brands use factory tours, visitor centers, and other behind-the-scenes encounters to share their histories and operations. These backstory performances are fragile events that must balance revealing and concealing. This article defines brand backstories as selectively disclosive narratives offering a curated set of brand content, and conceptualizes brand backstory performances as spatially embedded enactments that invite consumers into a staged version of what feels like a backstage. Drawing on dramaturgical theory, we examine how brands negotiate the tension between showcasing transparency and retaining control during backstory performances. A multimethod investigation centered on four primary backstory sites identifies three interdependent dimensions of the backstory performance (staging performance elements, orchestrating the characters, and tailoring the script) that together modulate consumers’ experience of transparency. Backstory experiences must be skillfully delivered, stimulating, and safe to optimize perceived transparency. This research reframes brand transparency from a property that brands possess to a narrative experience they perform. It shows how contemporary brand storytelling depends on carefully curated and staged encounters that are calibrated to the optimal dosage of revelation to make insider status feel real without surrendering control.
{"title":"EXPRESS: THE BRAND BACKSTORY AND THE STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE OF TRANSPARENCY","authors":"Cristel Antonia Russell, Anne Hamby, Stephanie Feiereisen, Hope Jensen Schau","doi":"10.1177/00222429261422755","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261422755","url":null,"abstract":"Brands use factory tours, visitor centers, and other behind-the-scenes encounters to share their histories and operations. These backstory performances are fragile events that must balance revealing and concealing. This article defines <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">brand backstories</jats:italic> as selectively disclosive narratives offering a curated set of brand content, and conceptualizes brand backstory performances as spatially embedded enactments that invite consumers into a staged version of what feels like a backstage. Drawing on dramaturgical theory, we examine how brands negotiate the tension between showcasing transparency and retaining control during backstory performances. A multimethod investigation centered on four primary backstory sites identifies three interdependent dimensions of the backstory performance (staging performance elements, orchestrating the characters, and tailoring the script) that together modulate consumers’ experience of transparency. Backstory experiences must be skillfully delivered, stimulating, and safe to optimize perceived transparency. This research reframes brand transparency from a property that brands possess to a narrative experience they perform. It shows how contemporary brand storytelling depends on carefully curated and staged encounters that are calibrated to the optimal dosage of revelation to make insider status feel real without surrendering control.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"73 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146070186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-26DOI: 10.1177/00222429261421488
Nofar Duani, Alixandra Barasch, Adrian F. Ward
Recent advances in live-streaming technology have empowered millions of amateur content creators to broadcast live video over the internet, sharing events and experiences with consumers as they happen. Despite the growing popularity of live streams, little research has examined how liveness may affect viewers’ experiences and behaviors. The current research addresses this gap, and uses the context of amateur music performances to investigate how, when, and why viewing live streams (versus equivalent or identical pre-recorded video) can enhance presence, connection, enjoyment, and engagement. We find evidence of a mere liveness effect on consumer experiences: simply knowing that an online video stream is live causes viewers to feel more connected to streamers. This effect is facilitated by an elevated sense of presence, or “being there,” in events that are viewed in real time. Critically, this effect also drives a liveness lift for online streamers; viewers of live (versus pre-recorded) streams enjoy the content more, choose to continue watching longer, and are more willing to follow and subscribe to the streamers’ channels. These findings have clear substantive implications: marketers, platform developers, and content creators can enhance consumer connection, enjoyment, and engagement by going live.
{"title":"EXPRESS: The Liveness Lift: Viewing Live Streams Creates Connection and Enhances Engagement in Amateur Music Performances","authors":"Nofar Duani, Alixandra Barasch, Adrian F. Ward","doi":"10.1177/00222429261421488","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261421488","url":null,"abstract":"Recent advances in live-streaming technology have empowered millions of amateur content creators to broadcast live video over the internet, sharing events and experiences with consumers as they happen. Despite the growing popularity of live streams, little research has examined how liveness may affect viewers’ experiences and behaviors. The current research addresses this gap, and uses the context of amateur music performances to investigate how, when, and why viewing live streams (versus equivalent or identical pre-recorded video) can enhance presence, connection, enjoyment, and engagement. We find evidence of a <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">mere liveness effect</jats:italic> on consumer experiences: simply knowing that an online video stream is live causes viewers to feel more connected to streamers. This effect is facilitated by an elevated sense of presence, or “being there,” in events that are viewed in real time. Critically, this effect also drives a <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">liveness lift</jats:italic> for online streamers; viewers of live (versus pre-recorded) streams enjoy the content more, choose to continue watching longer, and are more willing to follow and subscribe to the streamers’ channels. These findings have clear substantive implications: marketers, platform developers, and content creators can enhance consumer connection, enjoyment, and engagement by going live.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146048466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1177/00222429261417972
Jinyan Xiang, Mario Pandelaere, Daniel Todorovic
Peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms promise openness and access, yet various biases and barriers shape who gets served. This research investigates how regional economic inequality drives access to peer-to-peer services. Using archival, survey, and experimental data across multiple contexts—including lending, lodging, car rental, and tool sharing—the authors provide convergent evidence that heightened economic inequality within a consumer’s geographic region (community, state, or nation) reduces providers’ willingness to serve that consumer when inequality is a salient socioeconomic cue. This decreased willingness constitutes a form of exclusion rooted in providers’ inferences about potential consumers. Thought protocol analyses reveal that providers infer lower socioeconomic status (SES) and diminished trustworthiness among consumers from more unequal regions, thereby increasing perceived financial risk of serving them. Crucially, the authors demonstrate a boundary condition with practical relevance: a strong platform reputation, such as high ratings, can counteract the negative effects of regional economic inequality, restoring access and interpersonal trust in P2P exchanges.
{"title":"EXPRESS: Economic Inequality Hinders Consumers’ Access to Peer-To-Peer Services","authors":"Jinyan Xiang, Mario Pandelaere, Daniel Todorovic","doi":"10.1177/00222429261417972","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261417972","url":null,"abstract":"Peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms promise openness and access, yet various biases and barriers shape who gets served. This research investigates how regional economic inequality drives access to peer-to-peer services. Using archival, survey, and experimental data across multiple contexts—including lending, lodging, car rental, and tool sharing—the authors provide convergent evidence that heightened economic inequality within a consumer’s geographic region (community, state, or nation) reduces providers’ willingness to serve that consumer when inequality is a salient socioeconomic cue. This decreased willingness constitutes a form of exclusion rooted in providers’ inferences about potential consumers. Thought protocol analyses reveal that providers infer lower socioeconomic status (SES) and diminished trustworthiness among consumers from more unequal regions, thereby increasing perceived financial risk of serving them. Crucially, the authors demonstrate a boundary condition with practical relevance: a strong platform reputation, such as high ratings, can counteract the negative effects of regional economic inequality, restoring access and interpersonal trust in P2P exchanges.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"276 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1177/00222429261417962
Nick J. F. Bombaij, Sarah Gelper, Marnik G. Dekimpe
In a reward-program promotion (RPP), brand manufacturers offer additional stamps or collectibles when their product is bought, which enables consumers to accelerate toward their collection goal in a retailer-led reward program. Such retailer-manufacturer collaboration has become especially popular in the context of temporary reward programs where consumers have limited time to complete their collection. By examining over 800 RPPs across a broad set of categories in 26 reward programs at six Dutch grocery retailers, we provide a first comprehensive analysis of RPPs, which we contrast to regular price promotions. Our results show a clear positive effect of RPPs on brand sales, comparable in size to that of a 21% price discount, and point to program lock-in as likely mechanism of why RPPs work. RPPs work better in programs with a high requirement to complete a collection, in a later stage of the program, and when other brands in the same category participate with RPPs as well. They are less effective, however, when combined with regular price promotions, indicating negative synergies between the two. Importantly, the drivers of RPP effectiveness are largely similar for category and brand sales, highlighting RPPs’ potential for retailer-manufacturer collaboration.
{"title":"EXPRESS: Reward-program promotions: How brands can capitalize on retailers’ temporary reward programs","authors":"Nick J. F. Bombaij, Sarah Gelper, Marnik G. Dekimpe","doi":"10.1177/00222429261417962","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261417962","url":null,"abstract":"In a reward-program promotion (RPP), brand manufacturers offer additional stamps or collectibles when their product is bought, which enables consumers to accelerate toward their collection goal in a retailer-led reward program. Such retailer-manufacturer collaboration has become especially popular in the context of temporary reward programs where consumers have limited time to complete their collection. By examining over 800 RPPs across a broad set of categories in 26 reward programs at six Dutch grocery retailers, we provide a first comprehensive analysis of RPPs, which we contrast to regular price promotions. Our results show a clear positive effect of RPPs on brand sales, comparable in size to that of a 21% price discount, and point to program lock-in as likely mechanism of why RPPs work. RPPs work better in programs with a high requirement to complete a collection, in a later stage of the program, and when other brands in the same category participate with RPPs as well. They are less effective, however, when combined with regular price promotions, indicating negative synergies between the two. Importantly, the drivers of RPP effectiveness are largely similar for category and brand sales, highlighting RPPs’ potential for retailer-manufacturer collaboration.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"95 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1177/00222429261417970
Zhe Zhang, Xiaoyan Deng, Matthew Thomson, Ning Ye
Many marketers design their product packaging so that when individual units are positioned together, they form a coordinated and often larger image that spans multiple package faces. We coin the term ‘billboarding’ to refer to this practice that blends product packaging and retail display and whose effectiveness remains unexplored in the marketing literature. We document that billboarding improves consumer responses and operates through a combination of heightened artistic perceptions of the brand display and consumer feelings of serendipity. Using an empirical approach that incorporates field data and experiments, we present eight studies that support this perspective. Because marketers are concerned that the improper implementation of billboarding can backfire, we further explore several moderators related to in-store (disorganized and incomplete billboarding) and design (image type) factors to understand how to maximize its utility. We further examine conceptual fluency as a moderator and show that the positive effects of billboarding are significantly weaker when the inclusion of artistic qualities is conceptually less fluent with a product category. This research offers the first examination of an important marketing tool that may help brand managers circumvent uncooperative retailers and advance actionable insights that are likely to boost consumer responses.
{"title":"EXPRESS: E Pluribus Unum: Exploring the Effects of Billboarding on Consumer Brand Responses","authors":"Zhe Zhang, Xiaoyan Deng, Matthew Thomson, Ning Ye","doi":"10.1177/00222429261417970","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261417970","url":null,"abstract":"Many marketers design their product packaging so that when individual units are positioned together, they form a coordinated and often larger image that spans multiple package faces. We coin the term ‘billboarding’ to refer to this practice that blends product packaging and retail display and whose effectiveness remains unexplored in the marketing literature. We document that billboarding improves consumer responses and operates through a combination of heightened artistic perceptions of the brand display and consumer feelings of serendipity. Using an empirical approach that incorporates field data and experiments, we present eight studies that support this perspective. Because marketers are concerned that the improper implementation of billboarding can backfire, we further explore several moderators related to in-store (disorganized and incomplete billboarding) and design (image type) factors to understand how to maximize its utility. We further examine conceptual fluency as a moderator and show that the positive effects of billboarding are significantly weaker when the inclusion of artistic qualities is conceptually less fluent with a product category. This research offers the first examination of an important marketing tool that may help brand managers circumvent uncooperative retailers and advance actionable insights that are likely to boost consumer responses.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1177/00222429261419762
Laxminarayana Yashaswy Akella, Praveen K. Kopalle, Stephanie M. Noble, Jens Nordfält, Dhruv Grewal
We find that inter-departmental distance between two departments in a store can significantly impact joint (combined) sales of that pair. Using data from blueprints and sales across 64 stores for 52 weeks, along with an experimental study to test our theorizing, we find a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship between inter-departmental distance and joint sales. Specifically, close departments are perceived to be substitutes, decreasing the likelihood of buying products from both departments. As distance increases, departments are perceived as somewhat related but different, increasing their diversity and the likelihood of buying from both departments. As distance between departments becomes large and products are seen as unrelated, the likelihood of buying from both departments decreases. This relationship is moderated when departments have non-identical layouts and when there are larger variety differentials across departments. Accordingly, we determine an optimal store layout using BARON solver by maximizing total store revenue. Our results suggest an increase in weekly revenue of about 4.08% for supermarkets (range of -.67% to 9.50%) and 3.20% for hypermarkets (range of .82% to 8.5%). While strategic locations of departments can help retailers increase overall sales, prior empirical work has not studied the impact of distance between departments at the store level.
{"title":"EXPRESS: The Impact of Inter-Departmental Distance on Joint Sales in Retail Stores","authors":"Laxminarayana Yashaswy Akella, Praveen K. Kopalle, Stephanie M. Noble, Jens Nordfält, Dhruv Grewal","doi":"10.1177/00222429261419762","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261419762","url":null,"abstract":"We find that inter-departmental distance between two departments in a store can significantly impact joint (combined) sales of that pair. Using data from blueprints and sales across 64 stores for 52 weeks, along with an experimental study to test our theorizing, we find a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship between inter-departmental distance and joint sales. Specifically, close departments are perceived to be substitutes, decreasing the likelihood of buying products from both departments. As distance increases, departments are perceived as somewhat related but different, increasing their diversity and the likelihood of buying from both departments. As distance between departments becomes large and products are seen as unrelated, the likelihood of buying from both departments decreases. This relationship is moderated when departments have non-identical layouts and when there are larger variety differentials across departments. Accordingly, we determine an optimal store layout using BARON solver by maximizing total store revenue. Our results suggest an increase in weekly revenue of about 4.08% for supermarkets (range of -.67% to 9.50%) and 3.20% for hypermarkets (range of .82% to 8.5%). While strategic locations of departments can help retailers increase overall sales, prior empirical work has not studied the impact of distance between departments at the store level.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1177/00222429261417674
Lu Wang, Xueni (Shirley) Li, Qiyuan Wang, Lei Su
Internet meme marketing is a digital marketing practice in which marketers leverage internet memes to promote their brand or product. Despite its growing adoption in brand communications, academic understanding of meme marketing remains in its infancy. In this research, we theoretically develop and empirically test how, why, and when meme marketing is effective. We find that meme marketing enhances digital advertising effectiveness by fostering shared psychological ownership of the marketing message and subsequently a strengthened self–brand connection. In addition, the effectiveness of meme marketing diminishes when the leveraged memes are not in their maturity (i.e., during the introduction, growth, or decline stages) or when applied to promote niche products. Six studies—including a large-scale secondary data analysis (N = 900,139 posts), a field experiment (N = 423,565 impressions), and four controlled experiments (N = 3,958 participants)—provide robust and converging evidence for these propositions. The effectiveness of meme marketing is demonstrated across both behavioral outcomes (e.g., likes, click-through rates, conversion rates) and attitudinal responses (e.g., purchase intention, likelihood to like). This research advances theoretical understanding of meme marketing and offers actionable insights for practitioners seeking to leverage internet memes in their brand digital marketing communications.
{"title":"EXPRESS: From Owning to Connecting: Understanding and Leveraging the Effect of Internet Meme Marketing","authors":"Lu Wang, Xueni (Shirley) Li, Qiyuan Wang, Lei Su","doi":"10.1177/00222429261417674","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261417674","url":null,"abstract":"Internet meme marketing is a digital marketing practice in which marketers leverage internet memes to promote their brand or product. Despite its growing adoption in brand communications, academic understanding of meme marketing remains in its infancy. In this research, we theoretically develop and empirically test how, why, and when meme marketing is effective. We find that meme marketing enhances digital advertising effectiveness by fostering shared psychological ownership of the marketing message and subsequently a strengthened self–brand connection. In addition, the effectiveness of meme marketing diminishes when the leveraged memes are not in their maturity (i.e., during the introduction, growth, or decline stages) or when applied to promote niche products. Six studies—including a large-scale secondary data analysis (N = 900,139 posts), a field experiment (N = 423,565 impressions), and four controlled experiments (N = 3,958 participants)—provide robust and converging evidence for these propositions. The effectiveness of meme marketing is demonstrated across both behavioral outcomes (e.g., likes, click-through rates, conversion rates) and attitudinal responses (e.g., purchase intention, likelihood to like). This research advances theoretical understanding of meme marketing and offers actionable insights for practitioners seeking to leverage internet memes in their brand digital marketing communications.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145955008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1177/00222429261417677
Sharmistha Sikdar, Vrinda Kadiyali, Giles Hooker
Amazon’s dual role, as both marketplace owner and first-party (1p) seller, gives it power over third-party (3p) sellers who sell similar items. This dual role can weaken 3p sellers’ ability to compete, possibly harming 3p sellers and consumers. We examine three aspects of marketplace competition. First, we examine price change dependencies. We find that 1p price drops after either higher Buy Box (i.e., the Add to Cart or default sales box on Amazon’s product page) prices or large 3p price increases; 3p prices decrease subsequently. Second, we analyze Buy Box seller selection since this is a critical conduit for demand. We find both high 1p and 3p prices are penalized in Buy Box selection. Low-reputation and intermittent 3p sellers cannot win Buy Box even at significantly lower prices. At equal prices, for some prices, Buy Box favors 1p over equal-priced 3p, and vice versa for others. Third, to see whether entry barriers weaken competition, we estimate a 3p seller entry model. Higher 1p prices are associated with more 3p sellers, suggesting low entry barriers. Combined, our results suggest Amazon’s dual role does not weaken competition in the marketplace. We discuss implications for marketplace participants, antitrust policy and research.
亚马逊既是市场所有者，又是第一方卖家，这种双重角色赋予了它对销售类似商品的第三方卖家的权力。这种双重角色会削弱第三方卖家的竞争能力，可能会损害第三方卖家和消费者的利益。我们考察了市场竞争的三个方面。首先，我们检查价格变化依赖关系。我们发现，在更高的Buy Box（即亚马逊产品页面上的Add to Cart或默认销售框）价格或3p价格大幅上涨后，1p价格会下降；3p价格随之下降。其次，我们分析Buy Box卖家选择，因为这是需求的关键渠道。我们发现，在Buy Box选择中，高的1p和3p价格都是不利的。低声誉和断断续续的3p卖家即使以更低的价格也无法赢得Buy Box。在价格相同的情况下，对于某些价格，Buy Box偏向于1p，而不是3p，反之亦然。第三，为了了解进入壁垒是否会削弱竞争，我们估计了一个3p卖家进入模型。较高的1便士价格与更多的3便士卖家有关，这表明进入门槛较低。综上所述，我们的研究结果表明，亚马逊的双重角色并没有削弱市场竞争。我们讨论了对市场参与者、反垄断政策和研究的影响。
{"title":"EXPRESS: Does Amazon’s Dual Role Weaken Marketplace Competition?","authors":"Sharmistha Sikdar, Vrinda Kadiyali, Giles Hooker","doi":"10.1177/00222429261417677","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261417677","url":null,"abstract":"Amazon’s dual role, as both marketplace owner and first-party (1p) seller, gives it power over third-party (3p) sellers who sell similar items. This dual role can weaken 3p sellers’ ability to compete, possibly harming 3p sellers and consumers. We examine three aspects of marketplace competition. First, we examine price change dependencies. We find that 1p price drops after either higher Buy Box (i.e., the Add to Cart or default sales box on Amazon’s product page) prices or large 3p price increases; 3p prices decrease subsequently. Second, we analyze Buy Box seller selection since this is a critical conduit for demand. We find both high 1p and 3p prices are penalized in Buy Box selection. Low-reputation and intermittent 3p sellers cannot win Buy Box even at significantly lower prices. At equal prices, for some prices, Buy Box favors 1p over equal-priced 3p, and vice versa for others. Third, to see whether entry barriers weaken competition, we estimate a 3p seller entry model. Higher 1p prices are associated with more 3p sellers, suggesting low entry barriers. Combined, our results suggest Amazon’s dual role does not weaken competition in the marketplace. We discuss implications for marketplace participants, antitrust policy and research.","PeriodicalId":16152,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Marketing","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145961798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1177/00222429251408347
Katherine C. Lafreniere, Sarah G. Moore, Mohamad Soltani
Consumers expect managers to respond to positive reviews, but it is unclear whether these responses are beneficial. This research finds that managerial responses to positive reviews can positively impact consumers when managers follow conversational norms for responding to compliments. It proposes that managers downplay the compliments that their firms receive via positive reviews (e.g., “Dinner was fantastic!”) and examines two norms-based strategies for doing so: 1) shift the content of the compliment (e.g., “We’re glad dinner was good.”) and 2) shift the recipient of the compliment (e.g., “…our suppliers helped.”). First, an experiment and Google Local data show a disconnect between how consumers think managers should respond and how managers currently respond. Second, six experiments test the proposed response strategies. Compared to managers that do not respond to positive reviews and to managers that write responses currently recommended by industry or academics, managers that downplay compliments improve readers’ evaluations of the firm and engagement on the platform. Downplaying the compliment improves consumer outcomes by conveying the manager’s humility, which is normative. Downplaying is most effective when the manager reduces credit to the firm, appreciates someone else involved (e.g., supplier or reviewer), and uses moderately positive descriptors (e.g., fantastic to good).
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