eBay has integrated Skype (a public voice over IP application) chat and voice into hundreds of categories on eBay sites globally. By integrating Skype in the marketplace, eBay sellers have the option of including Skype functionality to their eBay listings. This fosters more consumer to consumer (c2c) communication, in which eBay sellers can provide better customer care and build trust with buye...

Web logs (or blogs) have become a means for citizens to share opinions and deliberate on local issues. However, the large number of blogs makes finding and exploring content of interest relatively difficult. This discovery problem presumably also limits participation by interested citizens. We present a tool to display a representation of citizen-to-citizen discussion in blogs that reveals simi...

I this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of a firm’s proactive management of customer-to-customer communication. We are particularly interested in understanding how, if at all, the firm should go about effecting meaningful word-of-mouth (WOM) communications. To tackle this problem, we collect data from two sources: (1) we implement a large-scale field test in which a national firm created...

Increasing significance of the online consumer-to-consumer (C-2-C) auction market has amplified the need for buyers and sellers to engage in transactions with anonymous counterparts. The sequence of paying first and then taking delivery, introduces a great amount of risk for potential buyers. In order to mitigate this risk, online auction markets (OAMs) are employing an assortment of governance...

Despite widespread use, there is a void in our understanding of why, when, and how customers use service guarantees to evaluate service firms. Most previous research has focused on the effects of service guarantees prior to purchase, ignoring their beneficial effects on customer evaluations after the service has been experienced. This paper develops three conceptual frameworks that elaborate th...

In global manufacturing a paradigm shift from “make-to-stock” to “make-to-order” can be observed. This shift calls for new logistics strategies. Logistics should not focus exclusively on the efficiency of the distribution system. Beyond, it is important to integrate the order process into the logistics strategy. Our vision in writing this paper is an integrated fulfilment process from customer ...

A number of recent marketing studies examine the stock market's response to the release of American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scores. The broad purpose of these studies is to investigate the stock market's valuation of customer satisfaction. However, a key focus is on whether customer satisfaction information predicts long-run returns. We provide evidence on the market's pricing of ACS...

As the oldest academic journal in marketing, Journal of Retailing publishes research dealing with all sorts of B2B and B2C retailing-related topics. However, there appears to be a perception that Journal of Retailing welcomes only research pertaining to B2C issues. In this article, we debunk that perception through an analysis of the content of Journal of Retailing articles published during the...