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How Does the Use of Trademarks by Third-Party Sellers Affect Online Search?

Author

Listed:
  • Lesley Chiou

    (Economics Department, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California 90041)

  • Catherine Tucker

    (MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138)

Abstract

Firms that sell via a direct channel and via indirect channels have to decide whether to allow third-party sellers to use trademarked brand names of products in their advertising. This question has been particularly controversial for advertising on search engines. In June 2009, Google started allowing any third-party reseller of a product to use a trademark such as "DoubleTree" in the text of its ad, even if the reseller did not have the trademark holder's permission. We study the effects of this change empirically within the hotel industry. We find some evidence that allowing third-party sellers to use a trademark in their online search advertising weakly reduced the likelihood of a consumer clicking on a trademark holder's paid search ads. However, the decrease in paid clicks was outweighed by a large increase in consumers clicking on the unpaid links to the hotelier's website within the main search results. Our evidence shows that when a third-party seller focuses on a trademarked brand in its ads, the ads become less distinct, and customers are more likely to ignore the advertised offers and buy from the direct channel.

Suggested Citation

  • Lesley Chiou & Catherine Tucker, 2012. "How Does the Use of Trademarks by Third-Party Sellers Affect Online Search?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(5), pages 819-837, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:31:y:2012:i:5:p:819-837
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1120.0724
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Jin, Ginger Zhe & Wagman, Liad, 2021. "Big data at the crossroads of antitrust and consumer protection," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
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    6. Darius Schlangenotto & Martin Poniatowski & Dennis Kundisch, 2018. "What Drives Paid Search Success: A Systematic Literature Review," Working Papers Dissertations 31, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    7. Xiaomeng Du & Meng Su & Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang & Xiaona Zheng, 2017. "Bidding for Multiple Keywords in Sponsored Search Advertising: Keyword Categories and Match Types," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 711-722, December.
    8. Siddharth Bhattacharya & Jing Gong & Sunil Wattal, 2022. "Competitive Poaching in Search Advertising: Two Randomized Field Experiments," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 599-619, June.
    9. Vishal V. Agrawal & Atalay Atasu & Koert van Ittersum, 2015. "Remanufacturing, Third-Party Competition, and Consumers' Perceived Value of New Products," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 60-72, January.
    10. Jinzhao Du & Ying Lei, 2022. "Information design of matching platforms when user preferences are bidimensional," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(8), pages 3320-3336, August.
    11. Amin Sayedi & Kinshuk Jerath & Kannan Srinivasan, 2014. "Competitive Poaching in Sponsored Search Advertising and Its Strategic Impact on Traditional Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(4), pages 586-608, July.
    12. Vilma Todri, 2022. "Frontiers: The Impact of Ad-Blockers on Online Consumer Behavior," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(1), pages 7-18, January.
    13. Michael Arnold & Éric Darmon & Thierry Pénard, 2012. "To Sponsor or Not to Sponsor: Sponsored Search Auctions with Organic Links," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) 201207, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS.
    14. Matthew Chesnes & Ginger Zhe Jin, 2016. "Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Online Search," NBER Working Papers 22582, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Andrey Simonov & Chris Nosko & Justin M. Rao, 2018. "Competition and Crowd-Out for Brand Keywords in Sponsored Search," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(2), pages 200-215, March.
    16. Lesley Chiou & Catherine Tucker, 2017. "Search Engines and Data Retention: Implications for Privacy and Antitrust," NBER Working Papers 23815, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Preyas S. Desai & Woochoel Shin & Richard Staelin, 2014. "The Company That You Keep: When to Buy a Competitor's Keyword," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(4), pages 485-508, July.
    18. Chi, Yunjia & Qing, Ping & Jin, Yong Jimmy & Yu, Jinjun & Dong, Maggie Chuoyan & Huang, Li, 2022. "Competition or spillover? Effects of platform-owner entry on provider commitment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 627-636.
    19. Wu, Huamin & Li, Guo & Zheng, Hong & Zhang, Xuefeng, 2022. "Contingent channel strategies for combating brand spillover in a co-opetitive supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

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