Online Technology →
- 17 Jun 2017
- Research & Ideas
Amazon, Whole Foods Deal a Big Win for Consumers
What does Amazon's $13.4 billion deal for Whole Foods say about the future of retail? Harvard Business School professors Jose Alvarez and Len Schlesinger see good times ahead for consumers as well as both companies. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Nov 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Ideological Segregation among Online Collaborators: Evidence from Wikipedians
This study analyzes the dynamics supporting or undermining segregated conversations. Among the findings: In spite of their great differences, contributors on Wikipedia tend to move toward less segregated conversations. Contributors’ positions become more neutral over time, not more extreme. In addition, the conflict resolution mechanisms and the mix of informal and formal norms at Wikipedia play an important role in encouraging a community that works toward a neutral point of view.
- 19 Oct 2016
- Book
Three Critical Mistakes Digital Businesses Make With Content
Do companies really understand the nature of today's digital transformation? Bharat Anand's book The Content Trap offers a new view of digital strategy that shifts the focus from "produce the best content" to "create the best connections." Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Aug 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
The Empirical Economics of Online Attention
This study uses extensive data on user online activity between 2008 and 2013 to examine the links between user allocation of attention and characteristics of user. Findings show remarkable stability in how households allocated their scarce attention over the five years. Results imply that suppliers are competing for a finite supply of user time while generally lacking the ability to use price discounts to attract user attention.
- 25 Jan 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Online platforms such as Airbnb create new markets by eliminating search frictions, building trust, and facilitating transactions. With the rise of the sharing economy, however, comes the prospect of racial discrimination that is unheard of in established platforms. The authors suggest changes to Airbnb’s site design to reduce or prevent discrimination.
- 14 Dec 2015
- Research & Ideas
Airbnb Hosts Discriminate Against African-American Guests
Experimental research by Ben Edelman, Michael Luca, and Daniel Svirsky revealed widespread discrimination against African-American guests on Airbnb. Now the researchers have created an online tool to mitigate it. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?
The growing popularity of online shopping is remaking the world of offline shopping—stores are getting smaller, malls are getting scarcer. Rajiv Lal and José Alvarez look ahead five years at our radically transforming shopping experience. Plus: Book excerpt. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?
Part 1: The new book Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick and Mortar Store Survive? argues that ecommerce is about to deal severe blows to many familiar store-based brands—even including Walmart. Here's how retailers can fight back, according to Rajiv Lal, José Alvarez, and Dan Greenberg. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Apr 2012
- Research & Ideas
Do Online Dating Platforms Help Those Who Need Them Most?
The $2 billion online dating industry promises the possibility of a priceless product: romantic love. Associate Professor Mikolaj Piskorski investigates whether these sites are helping the lonely—or just making life easier for young singles who are popular already. Key concepts include: Researchers studied a random sample of 500,000 OKCupid members, focusing on two important stages of forming a relationship: spotting a potential mate, and initiating contact. Older, shorter, and relatively overweight men tended to view more profiles than their younger, taller, slimmer counterparts. However, those who were most likely to view lots of profiles were least likely to initiate contact with an e-mail message. Some of the features on OKCupid helped users to overcome the normative restrictions of the offline world, while others only served to help those who really needed the least help. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 May 2007
- Working Paper Summaries
I’ll Have the Ice Cream Soon and the Vegetables Later: Decreasing Impatience over Time in Online Grocery Orders
How do people’s preferences differ when they make choices for the near term versus the more distant future? Providing evidence from a field study of an online grocer, this research shows that people act as if they will be increasingly virtuous the further into the future they project. Researchers examined how the length of delay between when an online grocery order is completed and when it is delivered affects what consumers order. They find that consumers purchase more "should" (healthy) groceries such as vegetables and less "want" (unhealthy) groceries such as ice cream the greater the delay between order completion and order delivery. The results have implications for public policy, supply chain managers, and models of time discounting. Key concepts include: Consumers spend less and order a higher percentage of "should" items and a lower percentage of "want" items the further in advance of delivery they place a grocery order. Encouraging people to order their groceries up to 5 days in advance of consumption could influence the healthfulness of the foods that people consume. Similarly, asking students in schools to select their lunches up to a week in advance could considerably increase the healthfulness of the foods they elect to eat. Online and catalog retailers that offer a range of goods as well as different delivery options might be able to improve their demand forecasting by understanding these findings. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
In an Era of 'Fake News,' What is the Future of Advertising and Publishing?
A recent panel discussion at Harvard Business School considered how traditional institutions of democracy such as publishing and advertising are being undermined by the use of internet technologies. Open for comment; 0 Comments.