TY - JOUR
T1 - Informational and/or transactional websites
T2 - Strategic choices in a distribution channel
AU - Karray, Salma
AU - Sigué, Simon Pierre
N1 - Funding Information:
Research funded by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (award # RGPIN-2015-03880).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - While most businesses have faced the decision of whether to operate an informational and/or a transactional website, the literature on website selection in marketing channels remains very sparse. This paper proposes an analytical framework that compares scenarios where a manufacturer uses either an informational, a transactional, or both transactional and informational website in a distribution channel formed by one manufacturer and one retailer. We find that the selection of the optimal website depends on the online market base of the product, the effectiveness of the manufacturer-controlled online communications, and the cross-price effect between online and offline channels. For both the manufacturer and retailer, informational websites are preferable when the online market base is small. With larger online markets, the manufacturer may prefer either informational and transactional websites or exclusively informational websites, while the retailer is always better off with an exclusively informational website. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.
AB - While most businesses have faced the decision of whether to operate an informational and/or a transactional website, the literature on website selection in marketing channels remains very sparse. This paper proposes an analytical framework that compares scenarios where a manufacturer uses either an informational, a transactional, or both transactional and informational website in a distribution channel formed by one manufacturer and one retailer. We find that the selection of the optimal website depends on the online market base of the product, the effectiveness of the manufacturer-controlled online communications, and the cross-price effect between online and offline channels. For both the manufacturer and retailer, informational websites are preferable when the online market base is small. With larger online markets, the manufacturer may prefer either informational and transactional websites or exclusively informational websites, while the retailer is always better off with an exclusively informational website. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.
KW - Distribution channels
KW - Game theory
KW - Marketing strategies
KW - Multichannel commerce
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85034422640&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.elerap.2017.11.001
DO - 10.1016/j.elerap.2017.11.001
M3 - Journal Article
AN - SCOPUS:85034422640
SN - 1567-4223
VL - 27
SP - 11
EP - 22
JO - Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
JF - Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
ER -