Social Presence: Influence on Bidders in Internet Auctions

Abstract

We study effects of social processes' representation in Internet auctions using laboratory experiments. The inability of participating parties to learn about each others' bidding behaviour and to extend their comprehension beyond what is presented in auction sites today decreases the social influence compared to traditional face‐to‐face auctions. This reality is about to change since new interaction and collaboration technologies are emerging. A conceptual model used here associates social factors influencing bidders and the resulting bidding behaviour. We utilized an online auction simulation framework that facilitates transmission of social cues during an auction and conducted empirical study of behaviour in both English and Dutch auctions. We found that social presence, expressed by virtual presence and interpersonal information, significantly affects both bidding behaviour and market outcomes.

Keywords:

• auctions
• bidding behavior
• computer mediated communication
• internet auctions
• social presence
• social cognition online

Notes

Avi Noy

Sheizaf Rafaeli

([email protected]) is a professor of Information Systems and is the Director of the Center for the Study of the Information Society at the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Haifa, Israel. He has published extensively about computer‐mediated communication, virtual communities and the value of information. He has been involved in studying and building Internet‐based activities, and is interested in their social and organizational impacts and potentials.

([email protected]), Ph.D in Information Systems, is a researcher of Internet auctions, e‐commerce and Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). He is a teaching fellow at the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Haifa, Israel.

Sheizaf Rafaeli

([email protected]) is a professor of Information Systems and is the Director of the Center for the Study of the Information Society at the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Haifa, Israel. He has published extensively about computer‐mediated communication, virtual communities and the value of information. He has been involved in studying and building Internet‐based activities, and is interested in their social and organizational impacts and potentials.

http://kmi.open.ac.uk/projects/buddyspace/

http://messenger.msn.com/

http://www.liveperson.com/

http://www.oddcast.com

For example, Social media group at MIT Media Lab: http://smg.media.mit.edu/; Social computing group at IBM: http://www.research.ibm.com/SocialComputing/; Social Computing Group at Microsoft: http://research.microsoft.com/scg/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Avi Noy

Avi Noy Sheizaf Rafaeli ([email protected]) is a professor of Information Systems and is the Director of the Center for the Study of the Information Society at the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Haifa, Israel. He has published extensively about computer‐mediated communication, virtual communities and the value of information. He has been involved in studying and building Internet‐based activities, and is interested in their social and organizational impacts and potentials. ([email protected]), Ph.D in Information Systems, is a researcher of Internet auctions, e‐commerce and Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). He is a teaching fellow at the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Haifa, Israel.