Publications

June 2013
Supplement

Mobilizing an Online Business — slide supplement

By: Benjamin Edelman

August 2009
Article

Mental Accounting and Small Windfalls: Evidence from an Online Grocer

By: John Beshears and Katherine L. Milkman

We study the effect of small windfalls on consumer spending decisions by comparing the purchases online grocery customers make when redeeming $10-off coupons with the purchases they make without coupons. Controlling for customer fixed effects and other variables, we... View Details

Keywords: Mental Accounting; Windfalls; Marginal Propensity To Consume; Coupons; Marketing Communications; Consumer Behavior; Accounting; Cognition and Thinking; Retail Industry

Article

Online Experimentation: Benefits, Operational and Methodological Challenges, and Scaling Guide

By: Iavor Bojinov and Somit Gupta

In the past decade, online controlled experimentation, or A/B testing, at scale has proved to be a significant driver of business innovation. The practice was first pioneered by the technology sector and, more recently, has been adopted by traditional companies... View Details

Keywords: A/B Testing; Experimentation; Data-driven Culture; Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Digital Transformation

Winter 2019
Article

From the Digital to the Physical: Federal Limitations on Regulating Online Marketplaces

By: Benjamin Edelman and Abbey Stemler

Online marketplaces have transformed how we shop, travel, and interact with the world. Yet, their unique innovations also present a panoply of challenges for communities and states. Surprisingly, federal laws are chief among those challenges despite the fact that... View Details

Keywords: Marketplaces; Peer To Peer; Sharing Economy; Decentralized; Regulation; Preemption; Markets; Internet; Government Legislation; Laws and Statutes; United States

Other Article

The Market That Wasn't: The Non-emergence of the Online Grocery Category

By: Chad Navis, Greg Fisher, Ryan Raffaelli and Mary Ann Glynn

We examine the non-emergence of a potential new market category. In the late 1990s the entrepreneurial firms that attempted to sell groceries online attracted significant resources, made meaningful technological advancements and generated immense publicity, yet online... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Food; Emerging Markets; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

2025
Working Paper

Algorithmic Assortment Curation: An Empirical Study of Buybox in Online Marketplaces

By: Santiago Gallino, Nil Karacaoglu and Antonio Moreno

Most online sales worldwide take place in marketplaces that connect sellers and buyers. The presence of numerous third-party sellers leads to a proliferation of listings for each product, making it difficult for customers to choose between the available options. Online... View Details

Keywords: Algorithms; E-commerce; Sales; Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Customer Satisfaction

SSRN

2015
Working Paper

The Market That Wasn't: The Non-Emergence of the Online Grocery Category.

By: C. Navis, G. Fisher, Ryan Raffaelli and Mary Ann Glynn

In this paper, we examine the non-emergence of a potential new market category. In the late 1990s, the entrepreneurial firms that attempted to sell groceries online in the US attracted significant resources, made impressive technological advancements, and generated... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Failure; Food; Online Technology; Food and Beverage Industry; Web Services Industry

27 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Effect of Payment Choices on Online Retail: Evidence from the 2016 Indian Demonetization

Keywords: by Chaithanya Bandi, Toni Moreno, Donald Ngwe, and Zhiji Xu; Retail

Aug 2014
Conference Presentation

Online Word of Mouth and Product Quality Disagreement

By: Frank Nagle

15 Dec 2012 - 16 Dec 2012
Conference Presentation

Online Word of Mouth and Product Quality Disagreement

By: Frank Nagle and Christoph Riedl

October 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Wit Capital: Evolution of the Online Investment Bank

Wit Capital brings democracy to the IPO process via the World Wide Web. This case encourages debate about the role service will play in this technology-intermediated investment bank and the sources and sustainability of its competitive advantage. View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Investment Banking; Web; Banking Industry

Educators

July, 2024
Article

Consumer Protection in an Online World: An Analysis of Occupational Licensing

By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin, Bradley Larsen and Erik Brynjolfsson

We study the demand and supply implications of occupational licensing using transaction-level data from a large online platform for home improvement services. We find that demand is more responsive to a professional's reviews than to the professional's... View Details

Keywords: Occupational Licensing; Consumer Protection; Perception; Experience and Expertise; Public Opinion; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Demand and Consumers

03 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Ideological Segregation among Online Collaborators: Evidence from Wikipedians

Keywords: by Shane Greenstein, Yuan Gu, and Feng Zhu

February 2025
Teaching Note

Slice Labs: Creating a Fraud-Free Online Insurance Platform

By: Amit Goldenberg, Max Bazerman and Ruth Page

28 Sep 2012
Conference Presentation

Online Word of Mouth and Product Quality Disagreement

By: Frank Nagle and Christoph Riedl

October 2011
Supplement

Online Marketing at Big Skinny — slide supplement

By: Benjamin Edelman and Scott Duke Kominers

Slide Supplement for 911-034 View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products Industry

May 1998 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Leadership Online (A): Barnes & Noble vs. Amazon.com

Describes the attempt of a traditional retailer, Barnes & Noble, to counter the challenges posed by an Internet-based start-up, Amazon.com. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet; Retail Industry

Educators

Article

Landing the First Job: The Value of Intermediaries in Online Hiring

By: Christopher Stanton and Catherine Thomas

Online markets for remote labor services allow workers and firms to contract with each other directly. Despite this, intermediaries—called outsourcing agencies—have emerged in these markets. This paper shows that agencies signal to employers that inexperienced workers... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Matching; Agency Theory