The Effect of Social Cues on Sniping Behavior in Internet Auctions: Field Evidence and a Lab Experiment |
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| Authors: | Michael A. Kamins Avi Noy Yael Steinhart David Mazursky |
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| Affiliation: | aDepartment of Marketing, Harriman School of Business, Stony Brook University, USA;bFaculty of Social Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel;cSchool of Management, University of Haifa, Israel;dThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and Bocconi University, Milan, Italy |
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| Abstract: | This research explores how social cues presented in an online auction affect sniping behavior. Sniping is a strategy of placing a bid on an item in the very ending stages of an auction with a pre-determined ending time in an attempt to win the auction. Such a strategy conceals the intentions of the bidder until the last moments of the auction and minimizes the possibility of other opposing bidders submitting higher bids due to the short period of time left to respond. The research includes two field studies and a lab experiment indicating that sniping appears to be influenced by social factors, that is, when there are a greater number of bidders in the auction or the auction site provides social information about the bidders, the relative use of sniping increases. This research supports the perspective that bidders rely on others' bidding behavior and characteristics as an indication of the true value of the item on sale, and is one of the first studies in the literature which takes this perspective. |
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| Keywords: | Auctions Bidding behavior Online auctions Social cues Sniping |
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