Online Group Buying Research Articles

A sales strategy optimization model on online group buying in a fuzzy dual channel supply chain using a game theoretic approach

A sales strategy optimization model on online group buying in a fuzzy dual channel supply chain using a game theoretic approach

Do Initiator Characteristics Impact Member Decision: A Study of Online Group Buying in Taiwan

Abstract In recent years, online group buying has rapidly become popular and has become an important part of Internet users’ social life and shopping activities. The current study sought to examine the relationships between members and initiators in such online group buying website using a number of variables to describe the initiators and the members. Based on sample of 688 members and 61 initiators in online group buying website, the research demonstrated the use of a two-level hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relationships of online group buying initiator and members, appropriately adjusted for a nested structure. The results indicated that members who engage in higher levels of purchase intention in online group buying are more likely to find initiators who have ability and respond to the members. To sum up, initiator characteristics affects the initiator reputation and member’s trust to initiator. Moreover, initiator reputation and member’s trust positively affect member purchase intention. Keywords: Online group buying, Characteristics, Trust, Reputation, Purchase intention

Do Initiator Characteristics Impact Member Decision: A Study of Online Group Buying in Taiwan

Abstract In recent years, online group buying has rapidly become popular and has become an important part of Internet users’ social life and shopping activities. The current study sought to examine the relationships between members and initiators in such online group buying website using a number of variables to describe the initiators and the members. Based on sample of 688 members and 61 initiators in online group buying website, the research demonstrated the use of a two-level hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relationships of online group buying initiator and members, appropriately adjusted for a nested structure. The results indicated that members who engage in higher levels of purchase intention in online group buying are more likely to find initiators who have ability and respond to the members. To sum up, initiator characteristics affects the initiator reputation and member’s trust to initiator. Moreover, initiator reputation and member’s trust positively affect member purchase intention. Keywords: Online group buying, Characteristics, Trust, Reputation, Purchase intention

The rise of online group purchases in the age of pandemics

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant shift in consumer behavior has accelerated the transition towards e-commerce, with a notable surge in online group buying. This research pioneers the integration of the Theory of Planned Behavior with neurophysiological measurements to dissect the complex interplay between product price, risk perception, and consumer trust in influencers on online group buying intentions amidst a global health crisis. Unlike previous studies that primarily rely on self-reported data, this investigation employs brainwave analysis to capture the immediate physiological responses of consumers to pandemic-related stimuli, thereby offering a novel perspective on the underlying psychological processes. Our findings reveal that while traditional factors such as price, quantity, and time continue to influence purchasing attitudes, the pandemic has uniquely modulated these effects, with social influence playing a pivotal role in shaping trust towards influencers and, consequently, group buying intentions. Significantly, the study uncovers that COVID-19's impact, though seemingly negligible in survey responses, exerts a profound influence when assessed through experimental measures. By bridging the gap between theoretical models and empirical neurological evidence, this study not only addresses a critical research void but also enhances our understanding of consumer decision-making in times of uncertainty. This advancement in knowledge contributes to the extant literature by providing a more nuanced and comprehensive analysis of the factors affecting online group buying, offering valuable insights for both academics and practitioners navigating the evolving landscape of e-commerce during and beyond the pandemic era.

The pricing strategy of group buying under a dual-channel supply chain with price discounts and waiting time

PurposeAs an important form of the e-commerce industry, online group buying is under the spotlight from with two sides: cheaper price but longer waiting time. The purpose of this paper is to adequately investigate the interaction between saving and waiting time of group buying comprehensively.Design/methodology/approachTo fill the research gap, the authors elaborate a dual-channel supply chain (SC) with regular retail (individual buying) and group-buying channel, and formulate the demand based on the consumer utility with the positive effect of saving money and the negative effect of wasting time.FindingsThe authors find that power structure only changes the optimal prices, instead of the waiting time. The selling price mainly influences consumer demands, instead of the price discount of group buying. The SC profits are only positive to the channel preference, and it is the decisive parameter of consumers' choice. The price sensitivity lays a more remarkable impact on the SC compared to the time sensitivity. Above all, the price is the main factor of group buying, instead of time.Originality/valueThese results underscore the improvement for the dual-channel SC of group buying, providing managerial insights for the group-buying industry.

Measuring the Effects of Pressure on Consumer Impulse Buying Intention in Online Group Buying

Group buying organizations (GBO) have recently stepped up their well-established practice of employing super-low prices combined with limited product and service supply in a short transaction time span as a means of exerting pressure on consumers. The purpose of this research is to 1) identify and define three types of pressure that are triggered by online group-buying (OGB) promotions, 2) examine the effects of these three types of pressure on consumers' impulse buying behavior, and 3) investigate and produce knowledge about the mediating role of emotion in the relationship between pressure and impulse buying intention (IBI) of consumers. By integrating stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model and consumer impulse buying literature seen from the perspectives of marketing and enterprise information systems respectively, this research has identified three types of pressure (i.e., time pressure, quantity pressure, and price pressure) that influence the impulse buying behavior (IBB) of consumers regarding OGB. The research then examines the mediating role of emotion with reference to pleasure and arousal level. The results of a large-scale online survey combined with an analysis of a structural equation model demonstrate that the above-mentioned three types of pressure have different effects on IBI of consumers. Moreover, the research finds that this is achieved through different mediating mechanisms. Based on the results of the analysis, the authors have made some suggestions that marketers can utilize in developing effective OGB strategies. This research also provides the basis for enterprise information systems (EIS) to develop technologies that will allow organizations to better serve the needs of their OGB customers.

Factors affecting users' impulse purchases in online group buying: online consumer reviews, countdowns and self-control

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how online consumer reviews (OCRs), countdowns and self-control affect consumers' online impulse buying behavior in online group buying (OGB) and uncover the relationship between these factors.Design/methodology/approachBased on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework, this research examines the effects of OCRs, countdowns and self-control on users' impulse purchases. First, the influence of emotions on impulse purchases in group purchasing is investigated. In addition, this study innovatively applies stress-coping theory to group buying research, with countdowns exerting temporal pressure on consumers and OCRs viewed as social pressure, to investigate in depth how countdowns and OCRs affect users' impulse purchase behavior. Finally, this study also surveys the moderating role of users' self-control in the impulse purchase process.FindingsThe results show that the perceived value of OCRs and positive emotions (PE) were positively correlated with impulsiveness (IMP) and the urge to buy impulsively (UBI), while negative emotions (NE) were negatively correlated with IMP. Countdowns (CD) had a positive effect on UBI. Self-control can indirectly affect users' impulse buying by negatively moderating the relationship between PE and UBI, PE and IMP and CD and UBI.Originality/valueThe research results can help group buying platforms and related participants understand the factors influencing users' impulse purchases in OGB and facilitate them to better design strategies to increase product sales.

Unity is strength? The Mediated Moderation Effect of Conformity Tendency and Perceived Risk in Online Group-Buying

<p>網路團購是一種新興的消費方式，買家之間透過相互合作與商家協商，以獲取低價或增加產品的數量。本研究以刺激—有機體—反應理論模型為基礎，檢視參與網路團購的消費者，他們的從眾傾向是否會調節知覺風險與購買意願之間的關係，並以調節式中介模式進行效果驗證。本研究透過網路調查共蒐集573名過去曾經參與過網路團購的消費者進行調查。研究發現，網路口碑資訊對知覺風險具有顯著負向影響，知覺風險對購買意願具有顯著負向影響。雖然從眾傾向在知覺風險和購買意願之間具有調節作用，但從眾傾向對維持購買意願的作用有限。調節式中介模式檢定的結果驗證了從眾傾向的情境效應。最後進行討論，並說明理論貢獻、實務意涵與未來研究方向。</p> <p> </p><p>Online group buying is a relatively new consumption practice, through mutual cooperation between buyers negotiate with businesses to obtain low prices or an increased number of products. This study employed stimulus-organism-response theory model to examine whether customer’ conformity tendency moderates the relationship between perceived risk and online group buying intention, a moderated mediation model was proposed and tested. By the analysis of online survey data from 573 customers who have participated in group buying, the result of the study show that online word-of-mouth information has negative effect on perceived risk, and perceived risk has negative impact on online group buying purchase intention. Although conformity tendency has moderating effects between perceived risk and purchase intention, but the role of conformity tendency in preserving purchase intention is found to be limited. Results from moderated mediation model testing verify the contextual effect of conformity tendency. Theoretical implications have been suggested along with the direction for future researches.</p> <p> </p>

Maximizing the influence with κ-grouping constraint

Recently, a new business model called online group buying is emerging into our daily lives. For example, the online business platforms provide people group-discount coupons which will be issued for at least k buyers grouping for a purchase. With the coupon link widely shared over the social platforms, they hope to promote people into groups to facilitate more purchases. Inspired by aforementioned real-world scenario with grouping constraint of a given minimum number of group members (κ-grouping constraint), in this paper, we analyze and model the diffusion-group behavior, and propose the κ-grouping joining influence maximization (κ-GJIM) problem. Our problem aims to choose budgeted seeds to maximize the number of κ-grouping joiners by social influence, where a κ-grouping joiner is a person who can group with at least κ−1 (κ≥2) like-mind partners. We prove that this problem is NP-hard. We also prove that the computation of objective is #P-hard and then propose an efficient method to estimate the objective. We show that κ-GJIM is a non-submodular optimization problem, and then design two algorithms to solve it. At last, the experiments based on real-world datasets show that our methods provide good strategies for maximizing the influence with κ-grouping constraint.

Online group buying behavior: A study of experiential versus material purchases

AbstractMore than 50 million consumers participate in online group buying, hence its importance to retailers cannot be ignored. Four studies are conducted to determine (a) whether customers' preferences to participate in group buying relative to buying alone are more in the case of experiential (vs. material) purchases; (b) underlying psychological mechanisms affecting an individual's willingness to invite additional buyers; and (c) the moderating role of analytic versus holistic thinking orientation within the mediational framework. Consistent with expectations, preferences to invite additional buyers to receive a further discount (vs. buying alone and taking the deal‐of‐the‐day) were greater for experiential purchases than material purchases. Three psychological motivators, namely social relatedness, conversational value, and anticipatory enjoyment, act as parallel mediators. Finally, moderated‐mediation analysis shows holistic thinking accentuates the mediational pathway of anticipatory enjoyment but not for social relatedness, whereas analytical thinking accentuates the mediational pathway of conversational value. Of practical relevance to those designing group buying websites is that offering an additional discount to buyers if they are willing to expend the effort to form a larger group not only reduced the number of individuals indicating that they would not make a purchase at all, but about a quarter of respondents indicated that they would endeavor to find additional buyers. In addition, there is a clear preference for experiential goods; and for material goods, the findings suggest drawing attention to the experiences that material goods offer.

Giving electronic word of mouth (eWOM) as a prepurchase behavior: The case of online group buying

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has traditionally been examined as a prepurchase behavior when it is sought (eWOM-seeking) and a postpurchase behavior when it is given (eWOM-giving). This research extends understanding of referral behavior by providing fresh insights into giving eWOM as a prepurchase behavior using the case of online group buying. Using a between-subjects Solomon experiment, this research finds that consumers are more likely to give prepurchase eWOM for online group purchases for utilitarian products paired with affective messages and larger discount prices than for hedonic products promoted under the same combination of marketing stimuli. This research also furnishes actionable guidelines for marketers to develop marketing-mix strategies that encourage target customers to actively give prepurchase eWOM for online group purchases, including the boundaries in situations in which additional investments beyond what is required do not further enlarge the size of online buyer aggregation.

Consumer decision journey for online group buying: psychological and intentional procedure perspectives

PurposeThis study investigates the relationship between buyers’ psychological antecedent and repurchase intentions in online group buying. Considering and evaluating pre-purchase, the authors measure the buyers’ overall experience of online group buying through their perceived value (PV) and risk. This study examines the influence of PV and perceived risk (PR) on positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWoM) communication and repurchase intention in online group buying.Design/methodology/approachThe authors verify the research model using SPSS and the structural equation modeling-partial least square (SEM-PLS) to analyze 839 convincing respondents. This quantitative research provides insights into online group buying, including the food industry.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the buyers’ PV of online group buying enhanced positive eWoM communication and repurchase intention. The willingness of buyers to spread positive eWoM indicates their recognition and satisfaction with a product or brand. Thus, they have the behavioral intention to repurchase in online group buying. The study found that while positive eWoM communication significantly impacts repurchase intention, PR negatively affects PV. The research provides theoretical and practical implications at the end of the study.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has some limitations. First, the study only used PV and PR to measure consumers’ considerations and evaluations of the initial stage in the consumer decision journey. Future studies can include more dimensions that may further affect these considerations and assessments to verify the research model. Second, the study only used positive eWoM communication to measure the “enjoy-advocate-bond” of consumption and usage in the post-purchase stage.Originality/valueThe study proposes the sequential relationship in the psychological decision procedure of participating in online group buying and provides valuable managerial implications for managers operating online group buying on third-party platforms. The findings provide good knowledge for the food industry to stay connected with customers and develop their satisfaction.

Bibliometric Analysis of Global Research Trends on Group Buying using Scopus Database

In this digital age, consumers have embraced online shopping, whereby the group buying (GB) strategy has been widely applied in online shopping. Therefore, it is noteworthy to decipher the global development trend of GB within the online platform. As such, this study evaluated the global research trends in GB based on publication output, co-authorship between authors and affiliated countries, as well as co-occurrence of author keywords. By deploying the bibliometric method on Scopus database, 349 journal articles published between 1957 and 2020 were retrieved. The results revealed that since 2011, the publications of GB began to increase rapidly, while the number of publications prior to 1999 was only 54, of which 38 were related to the medical field. Interestingly, researchers from China and the US contributed about 50% of the world's publications. Meanwhile, author keywords showed that vast research work had higher assertions with online GB (OGB) marketing and Internet technologies.

A Path Analysis of Online Group Buying

Online group buying has emerged as a new bargaining power for many shoppers and become more so as a result of increasingly growing popularity of social networking and community-based web sites. Aside from significant quantity discounts, these buying groups can also potentially influence the manufacturers and retailers on policies, product characteristics, and services. We propose an Online Group Buying Decision Framework to model the overall process of online group buying. We use a major group buying community web site in Taiwan, ihergo.com, to test our framework and conduct follow-up analysis. Based on the proposed framework, we design a survey study in an attempt to gain more insights on group buying communities, their activities, and culture within these communities. We then perform a path analysis, a special technique of structural equation modeling (SEM), to study the relationship among the factors used in the survey. Our findings provide useful advice for online group buying sites to attract customers and increase sales.

Consumer decision-making styles, involvement, and the intention to participate in online group buying

Recent studies have demonstrated the relevance of consumer decision-making styles and consumer involvement as crucial constructs in understanding online group buying, but none has analyzed their collective impact. This study tests consumer involvement as the mediator in the relationship between consumer intention to participate in online group buying and their decision-making styles. The results show that involvement significantly mediates the relationships between the recreational, hedonistic; price-conscious; habitual, brand loyal; and the confused by over-choice consumer decision-making styles and their intention to participate. Interestingly, the novelty-fashion conscious decision-making style shows a significant direct effect but no mediation through involvement. The study makes substantive contributions toward the online consumer behavior literature and website management. We suggest that website managers maintain consumer involvement at a high level and consider consumer decision-making styles when addressing potential visitors and converting them into buyers. The study describes limitations and implications for future research.

E-tailer’s supply chain structures in group buying: Monopolistic or competitive retailing?

ABSTRACT We investigate the design of online group buying considering consumer characteristics under two different supply chain structures. Under monopolistic retailing, the e-tailer sells products through individual buying and group buying options simultaneously. Under competitive retailing, two e-tailers sell products through individual buying and group buying options respectively. We employ a stylized game-theoretical model to investigate equilibrium pricing and group size threshold decisions under two supply chain structures, and characterize the e-tailer’s optimal supply chain structure as well as study its impacts on the manufacturer and consumers. We show that the e-tailer always prefers a relatively high (high or low) group size threshold in the monopolistic (competitive) supply chain. Moreover, we find that the e-tailer chooses the monopolistic or competitive supply chain structure depending on combined parameters. Consequently, the e-tailer’s optimal supply chain structure may lead to an all-win or all-loss situation for the manufacturer and consumers. Our results underscore the importance in pricing and threshold decisions for online group buying and provide managerial insights for the group buying industry.

A new mechanism for purchasing through personal interactions: fairness, trust and social influence in online group buying

PurposeThe purpose of this article was to explore the influence of individual perception and social climate on consumer-initiated group-buying purchase decisions. An extended cross-level research model was used to explain how a new mechanism for purchasing through personal interactions could work.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilised a questionnaire survey for data gathering. The subjects of the investigation were group-buying initiators. Hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) was used to experimentally examine the research hypotheses.FindingsThe empirical results of the study indicate that the social influence of critical mass can effectively promote positive attitudes and intentions towards consumer-initiated online group buying. An individuals' perception of an initiator's fairness influences their trust in the initiator. In addition, trust in the initiator can positively and significantly influence buyers' attitudes and intentions to online group buying.Originality/valueMost previous studies on online group-buying focus on how social media influences group-buying behaviours. This study extends social media research by introducing an extended cross-level model to provide a comprehensive investigation into online-shopping. It is a preliminary attempt to systematically verify relationships at the individual and aggregate levels. The decision to group buying requires a relationship of trust to be formed before any transaction takes place, thereby increasing the intention to make a purchase. As a result, group buying is perceived as positive when interpersonal communication is very efficient, or when social influence is high.

Customer behavior of online group buying: an investigation using the transaction cost economics theory perspective

Customer behavior of online group buying: an investigation using the transaction cost economics theory perspective

Identifying the Geography and Determinants of O2O Online Retailers in Megacity in Central China: A Case Study of Zhengzhou City

In recent years, O2O e-commerce, represented by online group-buying, has developed vigorously, which had significant impacts on urban commercial space. Zhengzhou City is a rising national central city in China, and its e-commerce development level is ahead, but relevant researches are rare. Therefore, the data of online retailers of Meituan.com was collected and combined with Baidu map and Baidu heat map data. Then, we adopted the methods such as spatial statistics and geodetector to explore the geography and determinants of O2O online retailers in Zhengzhou urban area. The main conclusions are 1) The spatial development of O2O online retailers is characterized by significant global high-value agglomeration. 2) The agglomeration areas of different types of O2O online retailers are different. Most of them are concentrated in the old urban area within the Third Ring Road of Zhengzhou City, forming five comprehensive agglomeration areas. 3) The areas with the high e-commerce development level are mainly concentrated in the northeast and southwest of the x-shaped region formed by the intersection of Lianyungang-Lanzhou and Beijing-Guangzhou railways. Erqi Square and Guomao 360 Plaza are at the highest development level, followed by Zhongyuan Wanda Plaza and Daxue Middle Road. The development level at other areas is relatively low. 4) Zhengzhou’s O2O commercial pattern is highly dependent on physical business. The population distribution, especially the population distribution during the nightlife period, plays a vital role in its spatial development, followed by accessibility. The influences of physical distance are slightly larger than that of time cost, but the difference between them is little. In addition, travelling costs have the least impact. This paper could provide certain references for urban commercial planning.

Sustainable Development of Online Group-Buying Websites: An Integrated Perspective of ECM and Relationship Marketing

Online group buying (OGB) is a unique, innovative, and interesting online business model that seems to have a bright future. However, many group buying websites (GBWs) have not stood the test of time. Different from traditional e-commerce websites, GBWs create a rich value experience for consumers, but no research has explored how these benefits help GBWs achieve sustainable development. In this study, the expectation confirmation model (ECM) and relationship marketing are integrated to explore how these multi-dimensional perceived values influence relationship quality (satisfaction and relationship commitment) and ultimately shape loyalty (continuous intention and positive electronic word of mouth (eWOM)). The research model and hypotheses are empirically tested with 278 valid responses using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that satisfaction (SAT) and relationship commitment (RC) are primary antecedents of continuous intention (CI) and positive eWOM (PE). We found interesting differences in the effects of multi-dimensional perceived values on relationship quality and loyalty. Hedonic value can help GBWs improve relationship quality and directly promote the spread of PE, thus attracting new users. Utilitarian value can only increase satisfaction and directly affect CI, helping GBW retain existing users. Social value cannot improve user satisfaction, but it can help GBW develop long-term emotional connections with users and indirectly shape user loyalty. Finally, the implication, limitations, and future research directions are described.