Title

Auction Fever: The Effect of Opponents and Quasi-Endowment on Product Valuations

Department/School

Marketing

Date of this version

9-2004

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.20020

Abstract

The wide adoption of dynamic second-price auctions as the format of choice for Internet-based (online) transactions has created an interest in understanding how individuals behave in such environments. The current work concentrates on two dynamic effects, which we call quasi-endowment and opponent effect, and finds that these effects may result in over-bidding. The results of two experimental auctions – one involving hypothetical bids and the other real-money bids – demonstrate that bids reflect valuations that include the non-normative influences of the two factors. Quasi-endowment and opponent effects could lead to the behaviors of repeated bidding and sniping commonly observed in second-price online auctions such as eBay.

Volume

18

Issue

4

Published in

Journal of Interactive Marketing

Citation/Other Information

Heyman, J. E., Orhun, Y., & Ariely, D. (2004). Auction fever: The effect of opponents and quasi-endowment on product valuations. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(4), 7–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.20020

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