My paper with my Ph.D. advisor, Mark Fichman, “Multi-Homing Users\u2019 Preferences for Two-Sided Exchange Networks” has been accepted at MIS Quarterly. This work stems from my second-year Ph.D. summer paper at CMU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abstract: Online business-to-business (B2B) exchanges are proliferating, giving firms numerous platforms from which to choose. Many firms are also multihoming, using competing platforms concurrently. In this study, we examine how selling and buying activities on B2B exchanges affect multihoming buyers\u2019 preferences for exchanges. We posit that these activities influence buyers\u2019 perceived returns and risks of using the exchanges, and impact buyers\u2019 preferences. Using a unique dataset of 118 buyers\u2019 participation in two B2B exchanges over seven months, we find that buyers prefer exchanges with more selling activities. However, buyers\u2019 preferences and buying levels on the exchanges are non-monotonically related. At low buying levels, an increase in buying by others positively affects buyers\u2019 preferences. This effect may result from observational learning, where individual buyers learn from other buyers\u2019 behaviors. On the other hand, as buying level increases further on the exchange, competition among buyers also increases. Consequently, buyers lower their preferences for the exchange. In addition, we find that the effects of selling and buying activities on buyers\u2019 preferences change over time. Our results highlight the need to correctly model buyers\u2019 homing behavior; failing to do so could bias the picture of competitive dynamics between platforms and lead to suboptimal strategies by exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n