Endogeneity in Brand Choice Models
Management Science
Multiple Messages to Retain Retailers: Signaling New Product Demand
Marketing Science
Investigating New Product Diffusion Across Products and Countries
Marketing Science
Consumer Learning, Brand Loyalty, and Competition
Marketing Science
Product Strategy for Innovators in Markets with Network Effects
Marketing Science
Patient Choice in Kidney Allocation: The Role of the Queueing Discipline
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management
Structural Modeling in Marketing: Review and Assessment
Marketing Science
Using Online Conversations to Study Word-of-Mouth Communication
Marketing Science
Promotional Chat on the Internet
Marketing Science
Brand Value in Social Interaction
Management Science
Voluntary Quality Disclosure and Market Interaction
Marketing Science
When More Alternatives Lead to Less Choice
Marketing Science
Strategic Entry Before Demand Takes Off
Management Science
How Does Popularity Information Affect Choices? A Field Experiment
Management Science
Group Buying: A New Mechanism for Selling Through Social Interactions
Management Science
Exogenous Learning, Seller-Induced Learning, and Marketing of Durable Goods
Management Science
Editorial---People of Marketing Science
Marketing Science
The Strategic Impact of References in Business Markets
Marketing Science
Sequential and Temporal Dynamics of Online Opinion
Marketing Science
Rational Herding in Microloan Markets
Management Science
Link to Success: How Blogs Build an Audience by Promoting Rivals
Management Science
Optimal Search for Product Information
Management Science
A Model of the “It” Products in Fashion
Marketing Science
Modeling Consumer Learning from Online Product Reviews
Marketing Science
Learning from other buyers: The effect of purchase history records in online marketplaces
Decision Support Systems
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Mere observation of others' choices can be informative about product quality. This paper develops an individual-level dynamic model of observational learning and applies it to a novel data set from the U.S. kidney market, where transplant candidates on a waiting list sequentially decide whether to accept a kidney offer. We find strong evidence of observational learning: patients draw negative quality inferences from earlier refusals in the queue, thus becoming more inclined towards refusal themselves. This self-reinforcing chain of inferences leads to poor kidney utilization despite the continual shortage in kidney supply. Counterfactual policy simulations show that patients would have made more efficient use of kidneys had the concerns behind earlier refusals been shared. This study yields a set of marketing implications. In particular, we show that observational learning and information sharing shape consumer choices in markedly different ways. Optimal marketing strategies should take into account how consumers learn from others.