The Anchoring Effect of “Quality Threshold for Monetary Incentive” on Online Review Platforms

The “quality threshold for monetary incentive” mechanism is a common practice in online review platforms. However, the effect of the quality threshold is still not clear in the extant literature. This study attempts to investigate how the introduction of the quality threshold affects content quality. Based on the Anchoring Effect theory, this study first derives some theoretical conclusions based on theoretical models and then conducts a natural experiment to test the conclusions. The findings show that after introducing the quality threshold, (1) the proportion of content with the threshold-level quality will increase; (2) the proportion of content higher than the quality threshold is reduced when there is the “Anchoring Effect”. Moreover, the empirical study also shows that the quality threshold leads to an overall negative effect on the average review quality. Our findings are meaningful to the stakeholders of the online review platforms

What Are Social Incentives Worth? A Randomized Field Experiment in User Content Generation

Content generation is a critical aspect of user engagement in online communities, yet many platforms face a problem of under-provision. We focus here on the potential of different types of incentives (social and monetary) for stimulating the production of online reviews. Partnering with a Chinese online clothing retailer, we conduct a large-scale randomized field experiment, in which we consider the independent and joint effects of monetary payment and descriptive social norms on the quantity and quality of reviews. We find that money attracts a greater volume of reviews, descriptive social norms attract greater quality, and combining the two yields the greatest benefit in both respects. We discuss the implications of our results for theory and practice, and highlight opportunities for future work in this area

Heavy Medal - The Consequences of Introducing Symbolic Awards on Contribution Behavior in Online Communities

Online communities, like Wikipedia and Stack Overflow, have made a vast repository of knowledge available as a public good. However, they suffer from under-contribution in terms of quantity and quality. To tackle this issue, online communities have increasingly been relying on gamification, the use of game elements in non-game settings, to incentivize their members. The consequences of introducing such features on members’ behavior have remained elusive—partly due to the lack of controlled experiments. Herein, we take advantage of a natural experiment in which a technical online community introduced gamified rewards, which are awarded contingent on performance thresholds—termed performance contingent symbolic awards. Employing a difference-in-differences design using a comparable online community as a control group, we find that the introduction of performance contingent symbolic awards has a negative impact on the contribution behavior overall and that experienced members reduce their contribution quantity while inexperienced members reduce their contribution quality

Spillover Effects of Airdrops: Evidence from Tokenization Platforms

The emergence of tokenization platforms based on blockchain technology has led to the use of free airdrop to replace traditional expensive financial incentives to enhance user engagement. However, critics argue that such incentives may devalue tokens and prompt nonrecipients to panic sell. To investigate the impact of airdrops, we conducted a quasi-experiment on Axie Infinity. Our findings indicate that airdrops significantly enhance engagement among both recipients and nonrecipients. Mechanism analysis shows that cross group spillover effects stems from expectation of another airdrop program and increased market liquidity. While recipients tend to immediately sell tokens and often sell more tokens than received, we did not find evidence of nonrecipients panic selling tokens. Furthermore, we investigated the heterogeneous effects of airdrops. Our work contributes to the ongoing debate of the effectiveness of airdrops and provide insights into the study of tokenization platforms

Free Zone Incentives in MERCOSUR Countries and WTO Law

Published source: Gabriel Gari, 'Free Zone Incentives in MERCOSUR Countries and WTO Law' (2011) 6 Global Trade and Customs Journal, Issue 5, pp. 223–244 ID: GTCJ2011031This article examines the consistency of the incentives offered by free zone regimes in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay with World Trade Organization (WTO) law. It suggests that some of the incentives offered to free zone users are inconsistent with the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) because they constitute a ‘subsidy’ within the meaning of the ASCM, subject de iure or de facto to export performance, most notably, exemptions of direct taxes, exemptions of custom duties on the import of capital goods, exemptions of payment of social welfare charges, unqualified exemptions on payment of indirect taxes, and the possibility to supply goods or services to free zone users at promotional rates. By contrast, this article suggests that there are no significant inconsistencies between free zone incentives and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) but warns that the situation could change in the future if, as a result of multilateral negotiations, MERCOSUR countries opt for extending their GATS commitments to new sectors and modes of supply

Perceived Social Norms, Token Rewards, and Cooperation in Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) offer a novel paradigm, fostering members’ decentralized cooperation towards collective goals. Central to this are token rewards, aligning individuals’ interests with DAO’s collective goals to enhance cooperation. We introduce a theoretical model proposing that DAO members’ perceived social norms impact the effectiveness of this token-based interest alignment mechanism by influencing members’ tendencies to hold tokens, subsequently affecting their cooperative behaviors. By analyzing data collected from the prominent social DAO, Steem, our empirical findings validated this proposition. Our study stands at the forefront of elucidating the complex interplay between economic incentives and social motivations in DAOs, particularly the interest alignment mechanism. Moreover, based on the basic rationales of profit-sharing arrangements in traditional organizations, we transpose this understanding to the context of DAOs, offering a nuanced articulation of the interest alignment mechanism, which is absent in the current DAO literature

Buying Love Through Social Media: How Different Types Of Incentives Impact Consumers’ Online Sharing Behavior

A key issue in social media marketing is insufficient consumer participation and engagement. Oftentimes companies have to devise tactics to encourage more social sharing of brand messages, such as through the use of incentives and rewards. Previous research has investigated incentive effects under the traditional offline context, which addresses mostly economic exchanges and fails to consider the social dynamics of the social media environment. Addressing this gap, this research aims to answer the following research question: how can companies target different consumers with different incentives to maximize consumer sharing through social media? Specifically, the present research proposes three factors that can affect the relative appropriateness of monetary versus non-monetary incentives in driving consumer sharing: consumer loyalty, audience size and brand personality. Three experimental studies were conducted to examine these factors. The findings of study 1 indicate that consumers with high loyalty are more likely to engage in social sharing when faced with non-monetary incentives. In contrast, non-loyal consumers are more likely to engage in social sharing when offered monetary incentives. Study 2 shows that non-monetary incentives are more effective when sharing to a wide audience is requested, but incentive type does not make a difference when sharing is limited to specific individuals. The results of Study 3 show that, for a brand characterized by sincerity, consumers are more likely to engage in social sharing when a non-monetary incentive is used than when a monetary incentive is used. For an “exciting” brand, the incentive type does not matter. By examining these moderators, this dissertation contributes to a better understanding of how to use incentives more appropriately to increase social sharing under different situations. Moreover, the research findings here can help marketers define the appropriate strategies to target different types of social interactions, and allow them to restore some control in the co-creation of brand stories in the social media context

How Online Sales Promotions via Social Networks Affect the Brand Equity of a Heritage Destination

Social media marketing communication is among the current strategies used to provide visibility to cultural heritage, sales promotions being especially relevant. Nevertheless, despite the fact that social media has now built significant momentum, there is still a dearth of research on the relationship between social marketing activities and brand equity. In this context, this study seeks to determine how the use of promotional discounts and free gifts on social media contributes to building heritage brand equity. To pursue this research aim, a quasi-experimental study was designed and carried out among online users, based on two promotional stimuli (discount vs. free gift). The findings suggest that gifts perform better in terms of increasing brand equity, except where the user presents a high level of sales promotion-proneness, in which case promotional discounts are more effective.Campus of International Excellence BioTic Granada 20F12/43Spanish National Research Programme (R+D+i Research Project) ECO201788458-