The Economic Benefits to Retailers from Customer Participation in Proprietary Web Panels

49 Pages Posted: 17 Dec 2015

See all articles by B. Allen

B. Allen

University of Texas at San Antonio - College of Business

Utpal M. Dholakia

Rice University - Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business

Suman Basuroy

University of Oklahoma - Division of Marketing

Date Written: December 15, 2015

Abstract

Proprietary retailer-sponsored web panels are growing in popularity. We examine specific ways in which retailers may benefit from the creation of web panels and participation of customers in them. A quasi-experiment conducted in the field with a large online retailer using eighteen months of data and a difference-in-differences estimation approach reveals significant economic benefits to the retailer from web panels beyond generation of useful customer information. Web panel participation increased number of purchases by panel customers by 17%, cross-buying by 14%, and customer profitability by 36%. Contrary to conventional wisdom advocating moratoriums for respondents, we find that for web panelists answering each survey (up to a maximum of 27 in nine months) led to incremental positive effects with no evidence of tapering or reversal. Our results extend prior research and managerial implications regarding the question behavior effect by showing that proprietary web panels yield a substantial positive economic impact for retailers.

Keywords: Web Panel, Question Behavior Effect, Online Market Research, Quasi-Experiment, Difference-in-Differences Estimation, Survey Research, Online Retailing

Suggested Citation

Allen, B. and Dholakia, Utpal M. and Basuroy, Suman, The Economic Benefits to Retailers from Customer Participation in Proprietary Web Panels (December 15, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2704103 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2704103

B. Allen

University of Texas at San Antonio - College of Business ( email )

San Antonio, TX 78249
United States

Utpal M. Dholakia (Contact Author)

Rice University - Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business ( email )

6100 South Main Street
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77005-1892
United States

Suman Basuroy

University of Oklahoma - Division of Marketing ( email )

United States

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