NET Institute Conference on Network Economics, May 2014, Berkeley, California, USA – A Model of Product Design & Information Disclosure Investments (with Kartik Hosanagar)
There are new technologies that firms can employ to let consumers learn more about their products. For example, see Warby Parker’s virtual try-ons, and IKEA’s augmented reality catalog. Investing in such technologies is not a decision that is separate from choosing product quality in the first place. In fact both decisions should be viewed as part of an integrated process, that is in turn influenced by the amount of information that consumers can acquire independently, by third-party sources. As far as we know this process has never been studied analytically in a competitive setting: this is the first model of an oligopolistic market where both quality and quality disclosure are endogenous variables. Including the influence of third-parties is an added bonus!
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International Conference of Information Systems (ICIS-2013), December 2013, Milan, Italy – How Do Infomediaries Affect Firms’ Information Strategies, and How Do They Impact Buyer Surplus and Social Welfare? (with Lyle Ungar and Ravi Aron)
We usually think that product information websites are good for consumers: consumers can make better decisions as they become better informed about products. However, sellers can also take advantage of such third-party information sources and reduce their own information investments. Because of this, consumers may actually become worse-off. This counterintuitive result holds regardless of the business model of the product information website (e.g., advertising, referral fees, buyer-operated) and is even more pronounced for exactly the types of products for which consumers would need the most help with: products with a strong “experience” information component.
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International Conference of Information Systems (ICIS-2013), December 2013, Milan, Italy – A Model of Product Design and Information Disclosure Investments (with Kartik Hosanagar)
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25th Anniversary Symposium for the Competitive Strategy, Economics and Information Systems (in HICSS-46), Jan 7-12 2013, Hawaii, USA – Investing to Reduce Consumer Uncertainty: How does Consumer Homogeneity Matter?
All products include both taste-related and quality-related product attributes. When do you advertise a quality attribute? Easy, when the quality is high. When do you advertise a taste-related attribute? Well, that’s what the presentation is about. Short answer is that you advertise it most when the attribute has hit a “sweet spot” in the market, i.e., when it’s popular with many consumers. How do you know when this happens? Well you look at the variance of the ratings that your product receives from consumer reviews. Same way that a high review mean is a “go” to advertise your quality attributes, a low review variance is a “go” to advertise your taste-related attributes. Really cool stuff!
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Workshop on Cloud Computing in Cyprus (Organized by University of Cyprus, Microsoft, and the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency), May 23 2012, Cyprus – Cloud Computing and Start-ups (pdf)
A short and uplifting story of two recent ventures, that have wholeheartedly embraced cloud computing. To me, they represent a new breed of start-up that is extremely nimble, lightning fast, and borderless
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Workshop on Information Systems and Economics 2011, Dec 7-9 2011, Shanghai, China – Uncertainty for Quality and Taste Product Attributes – short presentation (pdf)
Short presentation with focus on two game theoretic results: a) linking the “fattening” of the long tail in electronic commerce with increased market transparency, and b) showing how high variances in consumers’ product reviews can predict future market share growth
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The 6th Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems, Sept 3-5 2011, Cyprus – Contemporary Issues in Economics of IS (pdf)
Overview of contemporary issues in Economics of IS. Focus on the current state of the field, as well as on emerging trends on methodologies and topics
Panos Markopoulos 