Title: Modeling Social Interactions in the Marketplace

Speaker: Prof. Yubo Chen, University of Arizona & Tsinghua University

Time: 4:30-6:00pm, Oct.12, 2011

Location: Room 217, New Building of GSM, Peking University

Abstract:

Advances in information technology have significantly increased the intensity and magnitude of social interactions in the markets. Social influences have become increasingly important in the consumer decision-making process, and play a critical role in shaping the market environment.

In one study, “Elites vs. Crowds: How Third-party Experts Influence Consumer Opinions in the Marketplace”, we investigate how third-party experts influence regular consumers’ opinions and their reviews. From a major social media website, we collect third-party and consumer review data on more than 2000 digital cameras launched in the market so far. Our analysis examines the quantitative ratings of both types of reviews, but also focuses on the textual information. Our results show that third party experts not only shift consumer opinions, but also influence the review topic selection by consumers in the social media space.

In another study, “Implicit Social Interactions in the Marketplace: A Network Analysis of B-to-B Markets in the Era of Globalization,” we examine implicit social interactions among sellers through their shared buyers in the marketplace. We propose that, after buying from different sellers, a buyer becomes knowledgeable of product information from different sellers. Hence, sharing buyers with other sellers can not only increase seller competition, but can also benefit sellers by facilitating their acquisition of information on the market. We study such implicit social interaction among peer sellers using panel data from a leading Chinese online B-to-B platform, and we construct a buyer-seller network based on more than 15,000 sellers and 160,000 buyers from 190 countries over four years, before and after global financial crisis. Our analysis demonstrates the existence of such implicit social interactions among sellers. Furthermore, we find that such interactions play a different role before and after global financial crisis and in different global markets.

Welcome to attend!