This journal article explores how communication messages might impact performance in a group buying setting. The research is an extension of prior work using a simulated group buying market
| Authors | Alexander Pelaez | Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, USA |
| Karl R. Lang | City University of New York, New York, New York, USA |
ABSTRACT: This article explores the effects of communication messages on market performance in electronic market designs specifically in a group-buying setting. Drawing on theory from economics, psychology, and information systems, we develop an exploratory model of message relationships for a social buying setting that posits the effect of the nature of these messages, i.e., emotional message and more utilitarian price-oriented messages among buyers. Our paper analyzes the messages of participants in an economic experiment whereby participants attempt to organize for a collective bid. Focusing on the effects of these messages on buyer performance measured by buyer surplus, i.e., profit, and time to task completion, the results add to the growing research of group buying theories. Our results show that emotional messages have no effect on buyer surplus, further that negative emotional messages tended to slow down time to task completion. In addition, we found that attempts to communicate price messages had no effect on performance supporting previous theories.
Citation: Communication Messages and Patterns in IT-Enabled Markets”, Pelaez, A., Lang, K.R., Journal of Management Systems, Winter 2015
