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Drivers of the long tail phenomenon: an empirical analysis
journal contribution
posted on 2011-01-01, 00:00 authored by O Hinz, J Eckert, Bernd SkieraBernd SkieraThe Internet makes it easy to offer large assortments of products, tempting managers to chase the “long tail”—that is, the phenomenon in which niche products gain a significant share of demand among all products. Yet few studies empirically examine the existence and drivers of this long tail phenomenon. This study uses a unique data set with 843,922 purchases from 143,939 customers that a monopolistic video-on-demand operator observed over 111 weeks after its launch of the service. The current analysis centers on the effects of increasing assortment sizes and improved search technologies on measures of the long tail, such as per customer demand, the share of products purchased from the assortment, the distribution of demand across products, and the concentration of demand. Increases in assortment sizes and better assortment quality lead to increases in demand per customer and a longer tail. The length of the tail (i.e., share of purchased products) is also driven by new customers and seasonal effects, such as school vacations, whereas the presence of high-quality blockbuster products shortens the tail. Different search technologies can shift demand toward niche products as well as toward blockbuster products.
History
Journal
Journal of management information systemsVolume
27Issue
4Pagination
43 - 69Publisher
RoutledgeLocation
Abingdon, Eng.Publisher DOI
ISSN
0742-1222Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal; C Journal articleCopyright notice
2011, The AuthorsUsage metrics
Keywords
electronic commercelong tailrecommendation systemssearch technologyvideo-on-demandScience & TechnologySocial SciencesTechnologyComputer Science, Information SystemsInformation Science & Library ScienceManagementComputer ScienceBusiness & EconomicsPRODUCT VARIETYONLINE REVIEWSASSORTMENTECONOMICSCHOICEIMPACTINFORMATIONCUSTOMERSDIVERSITYCONSUMERSInformation Systems
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