So what?: Harnesses the Net's communications capabilities by tracking
(surveilling) every member's movements, then reacting to trends. (Cars, for
example. Now a $1B business.) Hosts chat rooms and forums.
So
what? II: "Let-'em-loose-and-listen" strategy
Listening to members and reacting, quickly. Examples: Buy It Now (from an
eBayer suggestion to speed up auctions to impatient bidders; replicates retail
and instant gratification), Half.com, Photo postings.
Problems:
As it is has grown from small town to city, urban problems have emerged:
Crime
Growing fraud
Shill bidding
Contraband goods
Controversy
Jeff
Jordan, sr vp: "You can't govern a metropolis the way you governed Mayberry."
Study:
Positive reputational ratings emerged as mildly influential in determining
final bid price. However, negative reputational ratings emerged as highly
influential and detrimental. Thus, we find strong evidence for the importance
of reputation when engaging in e-commerce. (Standifird, 2001)
Sources:
--Robert
D. Hof (Dec. 3, 2001), "The People's Company," Business Week,
EB15-21.
--Stephen S. Standifird (2001), "Reputation and e-commerce: eBay auctions
and the asymmetrical impact of positive and negative ratings," Journal
of Management 27, no. 3 (May-June 2001): 279.
--Nick Wingfield (Dec. 10, 2001), "Always Looking for the Next Trade,"
Wall Street Journal, R6.
