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Attribute Search in Online Retailing
Author(s) -
Richards Timothy J.,
Hamilton Stephen F.,
Empen Janine
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1093/ajae/aaw085
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , online search , product (mathematics) , consumer behaviour , marketing , advertising , economics , business , microeconomics , econometrics , computer science , information retrieval , mathematics , geometry , artificial intelligence
Online retailing has created an empirical opportunity to examine consumer search behavior using click stream data. In this article we examine the implications of greater variety online for consumer search intensity, and equilibrium prices. We test our hypothesis using consumer data on online search and purchase behavior from the comScore Web Behavior Panel. We find that search intensity systematically decreases in categories with broader product ranges, and equilibrium prices rise. Our findings suggests that broader product ranges in online retail markets can produce anti‐competitive effects that are mediated through equilibrium responses in consumer search behavior.