Business Commons^™

Adroll: A Case Study Of Entrepreneurial Growth, Todd A. Finkle

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

This case study examines the background, start up, and growth of one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States, AdRoll. It explores the various strategic factors related to the growth of AdRoll and how these issues must be addressed in order to maintain its level of growth.This case study is especially interesting not only because it focuses on one of the fastest-growing firms in the country, but also because it addresses on an understudied topic within the field of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial growth.

Will "Smarter" Marketing End Social Discrimination? A Critical Review, Frances Grodzinsky, Andra Gumbus, Stephen J. Lilley

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

Purpose - There are two claims made by the web marketing/advertising industry. 1) By collecting, managing, and mining data, companies serve consumer’s best interests and 2) by adopting sophisticated analytics web marketers avoid discriminations that disserve individuals. Although we share an interest in ending social discrimination, we are more circumspect about pronounced individualism and technological fixes. Despite its appeal, or perhaps because of it, we should not accept the claim at face value. In this paper we argue that social discrimination may not disappear under smarter marketing; more overt forms may wane only to be replaced by more subtle forms. …

Our Celebrities Our Selves: Reconstructing Ourselves As Online Personalities, Arne Baruca

WCBT Faculty Publications

Celebrity influence on consumer behavior at the online macro level is the motivation for this study that addresses the nature of celebrity consumption and how consumers apply that consumption to develop their online self-presentation.

The sample for this study is limited to consumers with active accounts at online social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. Methodology is a three-part design. A multi-factor qualitative exploratory study (n=73) reveals four celebrity-consumer relationships whose proposed measurement scales are tested in a quantitative pilot study (n=85). Finally, a large sample study (n=593) is used to test the measurement model and to test the proposed …

Privacy Concern And Online Personalization: The Moderating Effects Of Information Control And Compensation, David G. Taylor, Donna F. Davis, Ravi Jillapalli

WCBT Faculty Publications

Firms have at their disposal an increasing amount of personal information about consumers gathered through various means. Studies find that personalizing online interactions improves customer relationships and increases desirable behaviors, such as positive word-of-mouth and increased purchase intent. However, other research suggests that the use of personal information stimulates privacy concern, which has a negative effect on behavior. This study examines potential moderators of the negative effects of privacy concern on behavioral intentions in the context of personalized online interactions. Results show that increasing perceived information control reduces the negative effect of privacy concern on behavioral intentions. In contrast, the …

Propensity To Trust, Purchase Experience, And Trusting Beliefs Of Unfamiliar E-Commerce Ventures, Gregory B. Murphy

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Trust has become a major issue among online shoppers. This underresearched subject will predictably determine the success or failure of e-commerce vendors. The lack of face-to-face interaction, the inability to inspect goods and services prior to purchase, and the asynchronous exchange of goods and money all contribute to the perceived risk of purchasing online and the resulting need for trust. Trust is particularly critical for small and new Internet ventures confronted by the liability of newness (Stinchcombe 1965). Lacking, among other things, a name that is readily recognized in the marketplace, entrepreneurial Internet ventures require trust if they are to …