报告题目：Win by Hook or Crook? Self-injecting Favorable Online Reviews to Fight Adjacent Rivals

报告时间：2024年4月30日，10:00-12:00

报告地点：必发9988集团B305

报告人： 王乐 副教授

邀请人：李文立 教授

讲座摘要：

The existing literature has long assumed that unethical behaviors are fueled by competition. Under this premise, rivalry and competition are often treated interchangeably. This study seeks to challenge this prevailing notion by introducing a conceptual distinction between rivalry and competition. Specifically, we explore the multifaceted relationship between rivalry and unethical behaviors in the context of online review self-injecting behaviors. Drawing on the collective regulatory focus framework and deterrence theory, we posit that rivalry-induced deterrence triggers a shift in mindset from promotion focus to prevention focus, which leads to the formation of mutual forbearance in self-injecting behaviors. Mutual forbearance collapses when one party unilaterally engages in self-injection, prompting the other party to retaliate by increasing their self-injecting activities. Additionally, we propose that firm reputation plays a crucial role in reinforcing the formation of mutual forbearance while mitigating its collapse. Employing an exhaustive data set from Ctrip and Qunar that comprises 85,939 observations from 3,996 hotels and spans 2018–2020, we found that the presence of an additional rival leads to a 3.2% decrease in self-injecting intensity. Furthermore, self-injecting intensity increases by 0.095% for every 1% rise in that of the rivals and increases by 0.041% for a 1% rise in that of the non-rival competitors. Crucially, our study identifies that firm reputation acts as a significant factor that strengthens the negative relationship between the number of rivals and self-injecting intensity and weakens the positive relationship between a hotel’s self-injecting and its rival’s self-injecting intensity. These empirical findings are supported by a myriad of robust examinations, including the use of a set of subsample analyses, alternative measures of independent variables, alternative instrumental variables, alternative observation time windows, and multiple endogeneity tests. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the pervasive and potent role of rivalry as an understudied inhibitor of self-injecting behaviors. Our empirical evidence offers critical managerial implications for platforms, sellers, and consumers.

报告人简介：

王乐，西安交通大学经济与金融学院副教授，博士生导师，电子商务系系主任。以第一作者或通讯作者在 Information Systems Research (UTD24), Information Systems Journal (Top 6 IS journals), Decision Support Systems, Information & Management (ESI 高被引论文), Journal of Business Research, 和《系统工程理论与实践》《中国管理科学》《南开管理评论 》等知名期刊发表论文 40余篇。在《光明日报》《经济日报》《中国社会科学报》发表理论多篇理论文章。主持国家自然科学基金面上项目、青年项目；教育部人文社科面上项目、教学改革项目；全国博士后项目特别资助、面上资助；中国建设银行重大应急项目（子课题负责人）；陕西省三秦学者青年拔尖人才支持计划等国家级和省部级项目13项；参与国家自然科学重大项目，国家社会科学重大项目，国家自然科学基金面上项目，教育部人文社科面上项目等国家级和省部级重点项目6项。入选 2023年陕西省“三秦学者青年拔尖人才 获 2022年“陕西省高校 科技进步一等奖 第一完成人 2018年西安交通大学“剑冰奖励基金”。多篇论文和决策建言被 中国关工委、中共陕西省省委、陕西省人民政府、陕西省中小企业服务中心、西安市人民政府等企事业单位采纳，产生了一定的经济和社会效益。