Online auctions, messaging, communication and social facilitation: a simulation and experimental evidence
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2002 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved 0960-085X/02 $15.00 www.palgrave-journals.com/ejis
Online auctions, messaging, communication and social facilitation: a simulation and experimental evidence S Rafaeli and A Noy Graduate School of Business, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, 31905 Israel This is a study of social facilitation effects in online auctions. We focus on the growth in online auctions, and the emergence of instant messaging and communication availability technologies. These two trends merge to provide a collaborative online social framework in which computer mediated communication may affect the behaviour of participants in online auctions. The interaction between buyers and sellers in traditional, face-to-face markets creates phenomena such as social facilitation, where the presence of others impacts behaviour and performance. In this study we attempt to replicate and measure social facilitation effects under the conditions of virtual presence. Does social facilitation apply to online auctions, and if so, how can it influence the design of online settings? We developed and used a simulated, Java-based Internet Dutch auction. Our findings indicate that social facilitation does indeed occur. In an experimental examination, participants improve their results and stay longer in the auction under conditions of higher virtual presence. Participants also indicate a preference for auction arrangements with higher degrees of virtual presence. Theoretically, this study contributes to the study of social facilitation, adding evidence of the effect when the presence is virtual. European Journal of Information Systems (2002) 11, 196–207. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000434
Introduction Auctions are social processes (Smith, 1989). This is a study of the social process of auctions, as affected by the system design of online implementations. Individual and group behaviour of participants in online arrangements has become the focus of increasing study. Much of this focus has been on the psychological aspects of participants’ cognition, choices and actions. However, beyond the individual level of analysis, online behaviour is influenced by others as well. With the advent of online communication technologies, forums and contexts, participants in online activities such as auctions are more likely to be affected by the proximity and availability of others. In other words, the social aspects of auctions are likely to be brought to the fore. More attention needs to be paid to group and social-psychological inputs that may impact personal online behaviour such as auctions. The following study attempts to understand behaviour in online auctions from a social perspective. Namely, how can the design of online auction systems harness the expression of others’ presence to impact the behaviour of individuals in online auctions? This study calls upon the theory of social facilitation to inform the design and process of online auctions. We report on the development of S Rafaeli, Graduate School of Business,
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