Shuffling as a Sales Tactic: An Experimental Study of Selling Product Rankings

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Shi, Qichao; Dearden, James A.; Lai, Ernest K.
• 署名单位: Southwestern University of Finance & Economics - China; Southwestern University of Finance & Economics - China; Lehigh University
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2023.02088
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: product ranking; university ranking; product guidance; ranking uncertainty; laboratory experiment

摘要

We investigate the strategic interaction between a product expert and a consumer. The expert publicly commits to a ranking methodology to rank two products with uncertain relative merits; the consumer decides whether to acquire the ranking report to guide her product choice. The expert cares only about selling the report; the consumer derives utility from the product itself and an extra ranking attribute controlled by the expert. Strategic shuffling, in which the expert induces demand for his report by manipulating the uncertainty in product rankings, emerges as an equilibrium phenomenon. When the consumer highly values the top-ranked product, the expert-optimal equilibrium, which features shuffling, diverges from the consumer-optimal equilibrium. Laboratory evidence supports the predictions of the expert-optimal equilibrium. With limited field data because of the proprietary nature of ranking methodologies, our study provides useful alternative evidence on how ranking publishers may adopt methodologies that are not in consumers' best interests.