Research Seminar with Junhong Chu

Professor JuJunhong Chu - Seminar Speakernhong Chu from the National University of Singapore gave a research seminar on Friday, October 10 about “quantifying cross-network effects in online C2C platforms.” This research examines the phenomenal growth of Taobao.com, a key reason behind the largest-ever IPO by Alibaba Group in September. Taobao.com is an eBay-like consumer-to-consumer platform. Professor Chu’s analysis suggests a significant cross-network effect on both sides of the market: buyers and sellers. The installed base of either side of the platform has propelled the growth of the other side. However, the installed base of sellers has a much larger effect on the growth of buyers than vice versa. In light of the results in this study, Taobao.com has changed some of its policies to become more “seller friendly.”

Junhong Chu is an associate professor of marketing at the National University of Singapore Business School. She earned a Ph.D. in marketing and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Her research interests include structural modeling of consumer and firm behavior, two-sided markets, distribution channels, e-commerce, and retailing. Her research has appeared in Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, and International Journal of Research in Marketing. She was a 2011 MSI Young Scholar.

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