Reducing buyer search costs: implications for electronic marketplaces
Management Science - Special issue: Frontier research on information systems and economics
Bundling Information Goods: Pricing, Profits, and Efficiency
Management Science
When and How is the Internet Likely to Decrease Price Competition?
Marketing Science
Organizing Distribution Channels for Information Goods on the Internet
Management Science
Information Goods Pricing and Copyright Enforcement: Welfare Analysis
Information Systems Research
Second opinions and online consultations
Decision Support Systems
A Multichannel Model of Separating Equilibrium in the Face of the Digital Divide
Journal of Management Information Systems
Impact of Web-based e-Commerce on Channel Strategy in Retailing
International Journal of Electronic Commerce
The Dynamics of Click-and-Mortar Electronic Commerce: Opportunities and Management Strategies
International Journal of Electronic Commerce
Retail Bank Services Strategy: A Model of Traditional, Electronic, and Mixed Distribution Choices
Journal of Management Information Systems
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Consumers use the Internet to minimize uncertainty when making important health-related decisions. Physicians are interested in delivering their expertise on-line even if they are unable to physically examine patients. A game-theoretic model was used to study the optimal channel strategies of capacity-constrained experts who provide consultation services via a face-to-face and an on-line channel. A consumer seeking consultation service can be in either a good or a bad state, each of which entails symptoms the expert can observe. As shown by the model, an expert can charge a higher price on-line than face-to-face and still find consumers willing to use the new service. If both channels are utilized, consumers who are more certain about their state are served on-line. The optimal price of an on-line consultation increases with the time required for the service. Experts need to consider several issues in pricing their services, but as the model shows, offering on-line consultations makes economic sense. Medical experts can use insights derived from the model to simultaneously manage face-to-face and on-line channels in selling their expertise.