Quality certification programs are used to improve consumers’ ability to identify high-quality products or sellers in markets with information asymmetries. Using data from eBay UK’s online marketplace, we study how certification’s benefits vary with market- and seller-level attributes,...

Product personalization opens the door to price discrimination. A rich product line allows for higher consumer satisfaction, but the mere choice of a product carries valuable information about the consumer that the firm can leverage for price discrimination. Controlling the degree of product...

Abstract Staffing decisions typically account for a large portion of a retailer's operational costs. The effectiveness of these decisions has often been analyzed by relating staffing levels to revenues. However, such approach does not explicitly consider the mechanisms by which the staff can...