https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1040-7165
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ABSTRACT
The fierce competition among brands on online marketplaces makes the optimization of offerings within this context a significant challenge. To address this challenge, we draw upon network theory and model the degree of competition through consumers’ consideration sets. We use a large empirical dataset from one of the biggest online marketplaces to explore the dynamic relationship between network position and the degree of competition, and we depict the redistribution of market share of related offerings after adjusting their array. In doing so, we provide a theoretical reference on when and how brands should optimize their product offerings on online marketplaces. We further demonstrate that intra-brand cannibalization relations have a significantly greater impact on the degree of competition compared to inter-brand ones, while intra-brand cannibalization relations represent the main reason for fluctuations in the degree of competition. Hence, contrary to existing theoretical insights and practical intuitions, our findings demonstrate that brands should minimize the number and heterogeneity of their offerings within a market segment to increase their sales on online marketplaces.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to kindly thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and developmental approach throughout the review process.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Supplementary Information
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2023.2267314.
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
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Notes on contributors
Meihua Zuo
Meihua Zuo ([email protected]) is a lecturer at Huizhou University, China. She received her Ph.D. from the Guangdong University of Technology, China. Dr. Zuo’s research interests include consumer behavior analysis, business intelligence, social network, and brand competition of data mining. Her work has been published in such journals as Information Systems Frontiers, Industrial Management & Data Systems, and Journal of Control & Decision, and presented at International Conference on Information Systems, Academy of Management, and the International Conference on Electronic Commerce.
Spyros Angelopoulos
Spyros Angelopoulos ([email protected]) is an Associate Professor at Durham University Business School, United Kingdom. Previously, he held academic appointments at Tilburg University, the University of Lugano, and the University of Nottingham. He holds a Ph.D. from Warwick Business School and has a background in engineering and management. Dr. Angelopoulos’s research focuses on user behavior on digital platforms, organizational adaptation during digital transformation, and on security and privacy issues of users on digital platforms. He has been Guest Editor of Special Issues of Journal of Operations Management, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, and International Journal of Information Management. He was selected as Faculty Expert by Google for his commitment to leading transformation in information systems research and education.
Carol Xiaojuan Ou
Carol Xiaojuan Ou ([email protected]) is a Professor of Digital Transformation and Information Management and Head at the Management Department in Tilburg University, the Netherlands. Dr. Ou’s research interests include digital transformation, applied business intelligence, computer-mediated communication, social commerce, smart recommendation agents and knowledge management. Her publications have appeared in such journals as Communications of the ACM, Decision Support Systems, Information & Management, Information Technology & People, Journal of AIS, and MIS Quarterly, among others. She serves as a senior editor of several IS journals and has chaired tracks in major Information-Systems conferences. She is also a Certified IS Auditor and an Academic Advocate of IS Audit and Control Association. She has led or participated in project grants of over €5 million. Dr. Ou is a distinguished member of the Association for Information Systems.
Hongwei Liu
Hongwei Liu ([email protected]) is a Professor of Information Management at the Department of Management Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, China. His research interests include business intelligence, systems design, and privacy issues of data mining. Dr. Liu’s publications have appeared in journals such as Information & Management, Information Systems, Advances in Modeling & Analysis, and Impulsive Dynamical Systems and Applications, among others. He was Dean at the School of Management and in charge of academic research. He also heads several projects of the Natural Science Foundation of China.
Zhouyang Liang
Zhouyang Liang ([email protected]) is an experimenter at the Guangdong University of Technology, China, where he also received his Ph.D.. His research interests include consumer behavior analysis, electronic commerce, Bayesian inference, and recommendation system. His work has been published in such journals as Journal of Control and Decision and presented at such conferences as International Conference on Information Systems, Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, and International Conference on Electronic Commerce. Dr. Liang has participated in several projects of the Natural Science Foundation of China.