Abstract
We examine the effects of starting bids on seller earnings in online consumer-to-consumer auctions. As starting bids increase, and the number of bidders increase, seller earnings increase. Both the affiliated private value model and a reference price explanation explain seller earnings. Bidder price fairness perceptions are also evaluated and, higher starting bids positively impact price fairness perceptions for winning bidders but have an adverse effect on losing bidders. In total, these findings suggest that sellers receive greater earnings as well as no adverse price fairness perceptions from winning bidders by setting starting bids higher.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 307-317 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Retailing |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2005 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We would like to thank Bill Bearden, Tom Brown, Scot Burton, Eric Greenleaf, Tom Jensen, Howard Marmorstein, John Mowen, A. Parasuraman, Arun Sharma, and Michael Tsiros for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Additionally, we are grateful for funding support from the Oklahoma State University Department of Marketing, the University of Miami General Research Fund, and the University of Southern Mississippi Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. Both authors contributed equally to this research.
Copyright:
Copyright 2005 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Auction
- Bidder
- Consumer-to-consumer
- Price fairness
- Reference price
- Seller
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Marketing