The Effect of Social Interaction on Economic Transactions: Evidence from Changes in Two Retail Formats

Avi Goldfarb, Ryan McDevitt, Sampsa Samila () and Brian S. Silverman ()
Additional contact information
Sampsa Samila: National University of Singapore, Singapore 119245
Brian S. Silverman: Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6, Canada

Management Science, 2015, vol. 61, issue 12, 2963-2981

Abstract: Examining changes in two different retail formats, we show that consumers alter their purchases depending on the retail environment. In both settings, the change in behavior coincides with a reduction in the interpersonal interaction required to complete a transaction. As such, we contend that the format changes reduced a “social friction” that would otherwise inhibit consumers due to an implicit cost associated with ordering certain items in social settings. This paper was accepted by Pradeep Chintagunta, marketing .

Keywords: social cues; consumer choice; retail; social frictions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.2030 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:61:y:2015:i:12:p:2963-2981

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Management Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().