The Dynamics of Mass Online Marketplaces A Case Study of an Online Auction.pdfVIP

The Dynamics of Mass Online Marketplaces: A Case Study of an Online Auction Jungpil Hahn Information and Decision Sciences University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA +1 612 624 3816 jhahn@ ABSTRACT The ability to bring together buyers and sellers at such a The Internet has dramatically changed how people sell and massive scale may be both a blessing and curse for the buy goods. In recent years we have seen the emergence of effectiveness of electronic marketplaces. On the one hand, electronic marketplaces that leverage information it is a blessing since buyers reap the benefits of greater technology to create more efficient markets (e.g., online product diversity with potentially lower prices and sellers auctions) to bring together buyers and sellers with greater are able to reach a greater pool of potential buyers. effectiveness at a massive scale. Despite the growing However, a curse it may be since buyers have to put in interest in and importance of such marketplaces, our extensive effort in searching through an enormous amount understanding of how the design of the marketplace affects of products and sellers have to compete with a great number its use is still