Simultaneous vs. Sequential Group-Buying Mechanisms
研究在消费者分两批到达的团购中，企业是否披露第一批报名人数（顺序机制）对成交率和消费者剩余的影响，发现顺序机制更优，且应优先通知较小群体。
This paper studies the design of group-buying mechanisms in a two-period game where cohorts of consumers arrive at a deal and make sign-up decisions sequentially. A firm can adopt either a sequential mechanism where the firm discloses to second-period arrivals the number of sign-ups accumulated in the first period, or a simultaneous mechanism where the firm does not post the number of first-period sign-ups and hence each cohort of consumers faces uncertainty about another cohort's size and valuations when making sign-up decisions. Our analysis shows that, compared with the simultaneous mechanism, the sequential mechanism leads to higher deal success rates and larger expected consumer surpluses. This result holds for a multiperiod extension and when the firm offers a price discount schedule with multiple breakpoints. Finally, when the firm can manage the sequence of arrivals, it should inform the smaller cohort of consumers first. This paper was accepted by J. Miguel Villas-Boas, marketing.