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Losing to Win: Reputation Management of Online Sellers

Author

Listed:
  • Mo Xiao

    (University of Arizona)

  • Jiandong Ju

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Ying Fan

    (University of Michigan)

Abstract

Reputation is generally considered an asset, especially in e-commerce markets. Any reputation system, however, elicits strategic responses from the sellers. Using panel data on a large random sample of online sellers from China’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao.com, we study how reputation affects revenue, prices, transaction volume, and survival likelihood as well as how sellers manage their reputation. We find that seller reputation has a substantial positive impact on established sellers, but new sellers fail to reap such benefits. Pursuing the long-run returns to reputation, new sellers actively manage their reputation by engaging in costly activities such as sales and switching product categories. In this "losing to win" process, new sellers may have spent too much resource to survive to next stage. Our results provide empirical support for the theory of career concern and reputation dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Mo Xiao & Jiandong Ju & Ying Fan, 2013. "Losing to Win: Reputation Management of Online Sellers," 2013 Meeting Papers 192, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed013:192
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Building a reputation as online seller
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-10-14 19:10:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Grégory Jolivet & Bruno Jullien & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2014. "Reputation and Pricing on the e-Market: Evidence from a Major French Platform," PSE Working Papers hal-03460312, HAL.
    2. Jolivet, Grégory & Jullien, Bruno & Postel-Vinay, Fabien, 2016. "Reputation and prices on the e-market: Evidence from a major French platform," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 59-75.
    3. Susan Lu & Huaxia Rui, 2014. "Can We Trust Online Physician Ratings? Evidence from Cardiac Surgeons in Florida," Working Papers 14-01, NET Institute.
    4. Grégory Jolivet & Bruno Jullien & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2014. "Reputation and Pricing on the e-Market: Evidence from a Major French Platform," PSE Working Papers hal-03460312, HAL.
    5. Xiang Hui & Maryam Saeedi & Zeqian Shen & Neel Sundaresan, 2016. "Reputation and Regulations: Evidence from eBay," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(12), pages 3604-3616, December.
    6. Cai, Hongbin & Jin, Ginger Zhe & Liu, Chong & Zhou, Li-an, 2014. "Seller reputation: From word-of-mouth to centralized feedback," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 51-65.
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4firg7dmo68rdasf15hi85vn53 is not listed on IDEAS

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