B2C Business Models Research Articles

Is Wisdom of Crowds a Positive Signal? Effects of Crowdfinancing on Subsequent Venture Capital Selection

Venture capital investors, whose decisions are highly consequential for the survival and growth of new ventures, serve as gatekeepers for the diffusion of radical innovation. In recent years, crowdfunding – an innovation in the start-up finance arena – is emerging as a viable route for entrepreneurs to secure scarce early-stage financing. While venture capital remains the most important source of funding for young innovative firms in later stages, it is important to study the interactions between new and traditional forms of venture financing. This study examines the impact and signaling effects of prior (crowd-based) funding on subsequent venture capital funding rounds. Drawing on a choice experimental research design and data on 5,280 selection decisions by 120 venture investors, the results indicate that “the crowd” is generally seen as a negative signal, but that it can generate certain positive signals to which professional venture investors react in their decision making. We find causal evidence that young firms with a previous crowdinvesting (securities-based crowdfunding) are typically not selected by venture investors, whereas high pledges of (reward-based) crowdfunding, collected fast by start-ups with a B2C business model, can have a positive effect on VC managers’ funding decisions. Our findings also suggest that traditional forms of pre-funding, i.e., prior business angel investments, by contrast significantly increase the likelihood of subsequent financing rounds. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

A comparison of social media marketing between B2B, B2C and mixed business models

This paper explores the implicit assumption in the growing body of literature that social media usage is fundamentally different in business-to-business (B2B) companies than in the extant business-to-consumer (B2C) literature. Sashi's (2012) customer engagement cycle is utilized to compare organizational practices in relation to social media marketing in B2B, B2C, Mixed B2B/B2C and B2B2C business models. Utilizing 449 responses to an exploratory panel based survey instrument, we clearly identify differences in social media usage and its perceived importance as a communications channel. In particular we identify distinct differences in the relationship between social media importance and the perceived effectiveness of social media marketing across business models. Our results indicate that B2B social media usage is distinct from B2C, Mixed and B2B2C business model approaches. Specifically B2B organizational members perceive social media to have a lower overall effectiveness as a channel and identify it as less important for relationship oriented usage than other business models.

A Survey of System Dynamics in B2C E-Commerce Business Model

Fierce competition in electronic commerce, especially Business-to-Customer (B2C) in mainland China, has fostered the need of research on business model. This paper is to rule out the research line on B2C business model. For static model, three phases, conceptualization, elementalization, and modeling of Business Models, are abstracted. The dynamic evolution of business model research and the introduction of system dynamics in the field of business model research are discussed in particular in the paper, including several mainstream models, such as EBMO, e3-value, and business model canvas, are selectively analyzed. On the basic of that, B2C e-commerce business shows its distinct characteristics. The paper concludes that next stage of the research will focus on quantitative analysis and dynamic model.

사례 연구를 통한 B2C 역경매 사업 모델의 성공 요인 분석

The purpose of the study is to derive success factors of B2C reverse auction business model, a business model contributes to the recent innovative practices in e-commerce and service sector. Electronic reverse auction has been traditionally used to ensure the procurement convenience and purchasing efficiency in B2B or B2G settings, however, e-RA is now expanding its basis toward B2C commerce industry along the huge success of an online e-RA travel service provider Priceline.com. Recently, B2C e-RA business model is getting the spotlight in the Korean venture industry with a variety of startups in diverse areas. However, e-RA does not work perfect in all kinds of trade settings. Therefore, we conducted a multiple case study to find out the success factors of B2C business model as follows : First, large supplier basis is an important factor that constructs a quasi-perfect competition environment. Second, the high online and mobile accessibility or e-readiness of Korean consumers was also a critical aspect of the success of e-RA. Lastly, e-RA performs best when the supplier switching cost is low and the trading occurs infrequently.

The Examination of Private Shopping Clubs as a Virtual Retailer in the Frame of E- Commerce System. Case Analysis: Markafoni, Turkey

Today rapidly evolving of Internet technologies enable the companies to carry their business activities to Internet. This situation provides firms to serve a wide range of customers and cost effectively. In the first part of this study, the definition of e- commerce, its pros and cons and classifications are examined briefly. Secondly, the concept of e-retailing and e-retailing business models are tried to be investigated in B2C business models. Afterwards private shopping clubs which are one of the famous virtual retailers are examined in the frame of e-retailing business models. Finally, Turkey’s leading private shopping club, Markafoni and its business implications are included as a case study. An indepth interview is used as a qualitative research method with the Director of Brand Management of Markafoni

How to Establish the Cost Advantage of Business E-Commerce

The tide of e-commerce is rolling up in our country;many enterprises announce inter-netted. They build websites, e-commerce platforms, especially in the model of business to consumer (B2C). At present, however many enterprises are in very difficult situation. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the cost of the B2C business model so as to explore countermeasures in how to establish cost advantage in the B2C e-commerce.

Study on the Innovative Jewelry B2C Business Model in China and Africa

According to the forecast of relevant business data, current jewelry consumption in China and Africa has become increasingly active and has great potential for further development. For now, the industrial value chain of jewelry e-business as a whole is far from a mature state; industry convergence degree is relatively low; market segmentation is high; the demand of customers is large, however the supply is full of chaos. Under the general context of rapid development of e-commerce in the Internet, the structure of jewelry industry requires further adjustment and further improvements. The concept of symbolic consumption has been proposed to highlight the increasing significance of extending symbolic value and experience of the commodity. This paper conducted an innovative and exploratory study on the jewelry B2C business model in China and Africa based on the value of user experience. The contents of this paper include four aspects. Primarily, it analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of jewelry B2C business model. Customers become the main players in the market and can select jewelry products based on their own preferences. Secondly, it explains the value of user experience by exploring the emotions, memories, feelings and deeper identity of value during the consumption process to expand broader space for product value. Furthermore, it provides an explicit analysis of innovative jewelry B2C business model concentrating on combining jewelry with customers' emotions. In addition, it explores the implications of innovative B2C business model in the jewelry industry by creating superior customer experiences.

Operational Considerations and Key Requirements for SMEs Adopting a B2C Business Model and Inviting Tenders for Software Solution

In this study, different frameworks related to the web portals are discussed and evaluated for the development of business-to-consumer (B2C) applications that can support the companies in implementing a successful B2C website along with business-to-business (B2B) legacy system. This multi-faceted research first focuses on the requirement analysis stage during the software development life cycle, or how the user/developer examines and studies the new system on the basis of business models, strategies, and value propositions. Second, this study tries to differentiate digital products, such as software applications, and non-digital products, such as furniture and groceries. Finally, this study attempts to find the issues and key requirements that may affect the business operation, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), while outsourcing their web application for development. As cost reduction is the key objective of outsourcing, results suggest that SMEs can efficiently reduce the transaction cost a...

Profiling Adopter Categories of Internet Banking in India: An Empirical Study

Internet Banking is an example of B2C business model, where transactions can be carried out without visiting the bank branch physically. The objective of the empirical study is to identify the dimensions and their impact on the adoption of Internet Banking on the various adopter categories. In order to get an insight of the different adopter segments, two important constructs such as customer perception constituting perceived ease of use and perceived security risk and perception towards demographic variables consisting of age, gender, education, income and occupation of the users are identified from the existing literature. The cluster analysis reveals that the clusters formed are innovators, early majority, late majority and laggards for adopting Internet Banking. Our study substantiates that only income as a variable acts as a roadblock in the adoption of Internet Banking services. The study will help Internet Banking marketing managers to design their strategies so as to encourage adoption and attract more customers.

The Value Creation of B2B2C E-Business Mode based on SaaS

Due to the disadvantage of enterprise information construction in B2B and B2C business models, companies cannot keep up with immediate information in developing customer service, inventory management, and customer web front-end experience. Based on the SaaS information service concept, this paper solves business problems in information technology for introducing the integrated B2B2C E-business mode. To achieve participants’ utility optimization, the business processes based on value chain has been restructured, which reduces the transaction cost by information sharing. SaaS operators provide the professional value added services, including core services, forms services and extensive services.

BioScience Argentina: BioMobile and the telemedicine market

BioScience Argentina: BioMobile and the telemedicine market. Subject area – Marketing and strategic decision making. Study level/applicability – Undergraduate business and management programmes, particularly with advanced marketing modules; and MBA programmes incorporating strategic management. Case overview – Claudio Bedoya, founder of BioScience (BS) and CEO has decided to launch a new product line, BioMobile (BM), to enter the new telemedicine market. BS is an Argentine company, which develops and commercializes innovative diagnosis equipments since 1995. The BM is a device which sends vital signals (from a patient with a chronic disease) through the mobile phone to a recipient's cell phone (doctor and/or relative).Three market segments, the alternative value propositions and the suggested go-to-markets for each of them are suggested. A debate between Antonio, Claudio's partner and Ydavelis, the marketing manager, highlights the underlying disagreement on which segment to serve and on the choice of value proposition. Expected learning outcomes – The case has been written having a senior classroom in mind. The case works best when used towards the end of the course, as it allows integrating all the concepts discussed in the course as such it assumes that participants have acquired basic concepts of strategic management and marketing management. Thus, it is not in the scope of the case to introduce any new theoretical concepts and no specific reading material is assigned to it: To apply prior knowledge to an emerging economy setting: For example: the SWOT analysis, the identification of critical success factors (CSF) for each alternative, segmentation, pricing, or the new product adoption curves. To calculate the projected revenues with limited data. To foster critical thinking about a company's strategic planning. Specifically, to be able to identify the underlying business decision: BS needs to decide whether to focus on the B2B/B2C market. Critically think on the differences between B2B and B2C business models.

Antecedents and consequences of consumers’ trust in electronic intermediaries: An empirical study of hotel booking websites

Electronic intermediaries are recognized as one of the most significant B2C business models in the Internet era. A trustworthy intermediary website functions as both an information intermediary and a credibility intermediary. Given the critical role of trust in driving online purchase behaviors, the technology acceptance model (TAM) has been applied to investigating the impact of technology on online trust from the perspective of users’ perception of Web interface. However, consumers’ trust in an electronic intermediary derives from not only technological factors, but also factors of brand reputation and consumers’ individual experiences. We conducted an experiment in the context of hotel booking websites. Results based on structural equation modeling indicate that the impact of an intermediary’s reputation exceeds that of technology acceptance. Besides, reputation sum and reputation distance, which stand for synthesis effect and the cask effect respectively, are the two mechanisms of trust transfer.

The Operational Performance of Virtual Communities - Towards a Successful Business Model?

Virtual communities are a prominent business model of the World Wide Web, as they can combine reach and selectivity based on user needs. Not only do virtual communities fill a strategic niche – they also tend to have a stronger operational performance than other B2C business models in their early stage of development, according to a confidential sample of Internet-based companies participating in the e-performance line of McKinsey & Company. In spite of these encouraging results, virtual communities must continue to increase their performance, in particular cost-effectiveness, steadily along their life cycle in order to ensure strong value creation for the long term.