Recent research has shown that social media services create large consumer surplus. Despite their positive impact on economic welfare, concerns are raised about the negative association between ...social media usage and well-being or performance. However, causal empirical evidence is still scarce. To address this research gap, we conduct a randomized controlled trial among students in which we track participants’ daily digital activities over the course of three quarters of an academic year. In the experiment, we randomly allocate half of the sample to a treatment condition in which social media usage (Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat) is restricted to a maximum of 10 minutes per day. We find that participants in the treatment group substitute social media for instant messaging and do not decrease their total time spent on digital devices. Contrary to findings from previous correlational studies, we do not find any significant impact of social media usage as it was defined in our study on well-being and academic success. Our results also suggest that antitrust authorities should consider instant messaging and social media services as direct competitors before approving acquisitions.
This study examines top managers’ risk perceptions in internationalization decisions. 126 CEOs and top managers responsible for internationalization in companies with headquarters in Germany, ...Switzerland, or Austria took part in our experiment. Applying random utility theory in a conjoint choice experiment enables the measurement of top managers’ preferences for target countries and entry modes. Country-specific measures of geographic, cultural, economic, and political distances serve as covariates to explain country preferences and to quantify the effect on internationalization decisions. Our results show that distance dimensions are the primary drivers of risk assessment, whereas entry-mode choice is secondary. Internationalization may therefore be a hierarchical decision in which managers choose target market (and risk profile) and view entry-mode choice as subordinate to other environmental factors.
Autonomous cars are considered to be the next disruptive innovation that will affect consumers. It can be expected that not only traditional automakers will enter this market (e.g., Ford) but also ...technology companies (e.g., Google) and newer companies dedicated to self-driving cars (e.g., Tesla). We take a brand extension perspective and analyze to what extent consumers prefer autonomous cars from these brand categories. Our empirical study is based on discrete choice experiments about adopting autonomous vehicles in a purchase scenario and in a renting context. Our findings show that brands play a central role when making autonomous driving decisions. Brand preferences differ systematically when buying versus renting a self-driving car. While technology brands are most preferred overall, consumers favor automaker brands over new brands only when purchasing, not when renting. We further disentangle the brand strength into the marginal effects of image associations. For example, Google’s strong brand positioning can be explained by experiences with the parent brand, but it could still improve brand strength by highlighting the relevance of the associated brand portfolio for self-driving cars. The effect of these brand extension success factors differs between parent-brand categories and also between the renting and purchasing scenarios, which requires a dedicated brand management.
Gross domestic product (GDP) and derived metrics such as productivity have been central to our understanding of economic progress and well-being. In principle, changes in consumer surplus provide a ...superior, and more direct, measure of changes in well-being, especially for digital goods. In practice, these alternatives have been difficult to quantify. We explore the potential of massive online choice experiments to measure consumer surplus. We illustrate this technique via several empirical examples which quantify the valuations of popular digital goods and categories. Our examples include incentive-compatible discrete-choice experiments where online and laboratory participants receive monetary compensation if and only if they forgo goods for predefined periods. For example, the median user needed a compensation of about $48 to forgo Facebook for 1 mo. Our overall analyses reveal that digital goods have created large gains in well-being that are not reflected in conventional measures of GDP and productivity. By periodically querying a large, representative sample of goods and services, including those which are not priced in existing markets, changes in consumer surplus and other new measures of well-being derived from these online choice experiments have the potential for providing cost-effective supplements to the existing national income and product accounts.
With rising gas prices, global warming, and green thinking, all-electric vehicles are currently considered the automobile technology of the future. However, besides their advantages electric drive ...trains also exhibit several disadvantages. Moreover, history shows several failed attempts to establish electric vehicles. Thus, a reliable forecasting model is needed that predicts if the current trend is sustainable. We develop and empirically test a choice-based conjoint adoption model that uses individual-level preferences as a basis for prediction. Predictions are mapped to the time of the next planned purchase in order to establish the adoption process. The model extends existing research in several ways. First, no prior information, e.g., historical market data or a functional form of the adoption process, has to be integrated. Second, the model allows dynamic modifications of product specifications or competition at different points in time. Third, a no-choice option can be integrated so that a technology switch is not forced by the model itself and switching costs can be considered. The empirical results reveal different critical factors for the adoption of all-electric vehicles, such as purchase price, range, timing of the market entry, or environmental evolution, which could lead to a solid base of consumers preferring this option.
Corporate digital responsibility Lobschat, Lara; Mueller, Benjamin; Eggers, Felix ...
Journal of business research,
January 2021, 2021-01-00, 20210101, Volume:
122
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We propose that digital technologies and related data become increasingly prevalent and that, consequently, ethical concerns arise. Looking at four principal stakeholders, we propose corporate ...digital responsibility (CDR) as a novel concept. We define CDR as the set of shared values and norms guiding an organization's operations with respect to four main processes related to digital technology and data. These processes are the creation of technology and data capture, operation and decision making, inspection and impact assessment, and refinement of technology and data. We expand our discussion by highlighting how to managerially effectuate CDR compliant behavior based on an organizational culture perspective. Our conceptualization unlocks future research opportunities, especially regarding pertinent antecedents and consequences. Managerially, we shed first light on how an organization's shared values and norms regarding CDR can get translated into actionable guidelines for users. This provides grounds for future discussions related to CDR readiness, implementation, and success.
Recent technological advances allow artificial intelligence (AI) to perform tasks that require high warmth, such as caring, understanding others’ feelings, and being friendly. However, current ...consumers may be reluctant to accept AI for such tasks. This research investigates the impact of required warmth to conduct a task on consumer acceptance of AI service and the moderating role of AI-human collaboration. A series of choice-based conjoint experiments and one survey yield two main findings. First, consumers tend to refuse AI for tasks that require high warmth due to the low perceived fit between AI and the task at hand. Second, an AI-human collaboration of AI supporting a human employee increases consumer acceptance of AI service for tasks that require high warmth. This is not the case for AI-human collaboration in which AI performs a task that is supervised by a human employee. Theoretically, this study increases our understanding of how consumer acceptance of AI service varies across tasks and how AI-human collaboration can advance AI acceptance. These findings provide insightful suggestions for managers regarding designing AI service and framing AI-human collaboration.
•Required warmth decreases consumer acceptance of AI service.•Task-AI fit mediates the effect of required warmth.•AI supporting humans increases AI acceptance for tasks of high warmth.•AI supervised by humans cannot increase AI acceptance for tasks of high warmth.
•Identifies key tradeoffs in companies’ strategic choice between SSOs.•Relates choices in these tradeoffs to innovation.•Reports results of a realistic choice experiment with 141 ...professionals.•Highlights higher-than-anticipated preferences for legitimacy in standardization.•Provides implications for studying networks beyond the standardization context.
Standard-setting organizations (SSOs) establish goal-directed networks for innovators to jointly shape technology and markets through standards. The degree to which this can succeed depends to a large extent on network characteristics, which may differ substantially between SSOs. Many technological fields face intense competition between SSOs. Choosing the right one is thus a key strategic decision for innovators. Simultaneously, SSOs must reflect members’ preferences in their network set-ups and governance. Yet, little is known about these preferences. Based on extant literature, we derive hypotheses about how three themes of network attributes (membership base, rules, transaction costs) and contextual factors drive decision makers’ preferences. We conduct a comprehensive choice experiment with 141 standardization professionals in the Internet of Things field. Based on our data, we provide a more realistic indication of what firms value in SSOs than has been previously available. We also discuss our results’ implications for studying networks in other contexts.
Although collecting personal information about consumers is crucial for firms and marketers, understanding of when and why consumers accept or reject information collection remains limited. The ...authors conceptualize a privacy calculus that represents a consumer’s trade–off of the valence and uncertainty of the consequences of the collection, storage, and use of personal information. For example, usage-based car insurance requires drivers to share data on their driving behavior in exchange for a discount (certain benefit) but at the risk of third parties intercepting location data for malicious use (uncertain disadvantage). Building on this conceptualization, the authors develop the privacy calculus (PRICAL) index. They empirically confirm the validity of the items (Study 1) and the index as a whole (Study 2). The PRICAL index is generally applicable and improves the explanation of behavioral intentions (Study 2) and actual behavior (Study 3), compared with currently used constructs (e.g., privacy concern, trust). Overall, the PRICAL index allows managers to understand consumers’ acceptance of information collection regarding financial, performance, psychological, security, social, and time-related consequences, which the authors demonstrate using the top five most valuable digital brands (Study 4).
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