Click here to download

Social couponing campaigns’ effectiveness: a study among Groupon’s merchants
Journal Title: MERCATI E COMPETITIVITÀ 
Author/s: Francesca Magno, Fabiio Cassia, Marta Ugolini 
Year:  2014 Issue: 3 Language: Italian 
Pages:  23 Pg. 41-63 FullText PDF:  120 KB
DOI:  10.3280/MC2014-003004
(DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation:  clicca qui   and here 


Following the rapid growth of Groupon.com and of the other social couponing web sites, an increasing number of studies have examined the benefits that the customers can derive from this promotional tool. Nonetheless we register a scarcity of studies about the effectiveness of social couponing from the merchants’ perspective, i.e. from the perspective of those companies publishing their offerings on these sites. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap, by investigating the objectives that the merchants intend to achieve through social couponing and their satisfaction with the performance of this tool. Comparisons among merchants belonging to different industries are made, as well. Through a survey on a sample of 157 Italian merchants that have run their coupon campaigns through Groupon, this study shows that social couponing is not perceived as equally effective by all companies.
Keywords: E-commerce, couponing, e-couponing, Groupon, daily deals, merchant.

  1. Anand K.S., Aron R. (2003). Group buying on the web: A comparison of price-discovery mechanisms. Management Science, 49: 1546-1562,, DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.49.11.1546.20582
  2. Barry J., Terry T.S. (2008). Empirical study of relationship value in industrial services. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 23: 228-241,, DOI: 10.1108/08858620810865807
  3. Bawa K., Shoemaker R.W. (1987). The coupon-prone consumer: some findings based on purchase behavior across product classes. Journal of Marketing, 51: 99-110.
  4. Bertoli G., Busacca B., Costabile M. (2000). La difesa delle risorse di fiducia. Sinergie, 51: 143-192.
  5. Boon E. (2013). A Qualitative Study of Consumer Generated Videos about Daily Deal Web sites. Psychology & Marketing, 30: 843-849,, DOI: 10.1002/mar.20649
  6. Boon E., Wiid R., DesAutels P. (2012). Teeth whitening, boot camp, and a brewery tour: a practical analysis of ‘deal of the day?. Journal of Public Affairs, 12: 137-144,, DOI: 10.1002/pa.1415
  7. Dholakia U.M. (2010). How effective are groupon promotions for businesses? Social Science Research Network. Testo disponibile al sito: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1696327 (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  8. Edelman B., Jaffe S., Kominers S. (2011). To groupon or not to groupon: The profitability of deep discounts. Harvard Business School NOM Unit Working Paper (11-063). Testo disponibile al sito: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1727508 (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  9. Groupon (2013). Fourth Quarter 2012 Results. Testo disponibile al sito: http://investor.groupon.com/ (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  10. Hickins, M. (2011). Fee splits at Groupon vary. The Wall Street Journal. Testo disponibile al sito: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859304576305513592782424.html (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  11. Jing, X., Xie, J. (2011). Group buying: A new mechanism for selling through social interactions. Management Science, 57: 1354-1372,, DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1110.1366
  12. Kang H., Hahn M., Fortin D.R., Hyun Y.J., Eom Y. (2006). Effects of perceived behavioral control on the consumer usage intention of e-coupons. Psychology & Marketing, 23: 841-864,, DOI: 10.1002/mar.20136
  13. Kimes S.E. (2011). The future of distribution management in the restaurant industry. Journal of Revenue & Pricing Management, 10:189-194,, DOI: 10.1057/rpm.2011.1
  14. Krasnova H., Veltri N.F., Spengler K., Günther O. (2013). “Deal of the Day” Platforms: What Drives Consumer Loyalty?. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 5: 165-177,, DOI: 10.1007/s12599-013-0268-2
  15. Kumar, V., Rajan, B. (2012). Social coupons as a marketing strategy: a multifaceted perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40: 120-136,, DOI: 10.1007/s11747-011-0283-0
  16. Latorre A., Vernuccio M. (2013). Ridurre il rischio percepito e generare fiducia nello shopping online attraverso gli User Generated Content. Mercati e Competitività, 1: 143-163,, DOI: 10.3280/MC2013-001009
  17. Lee I., Lee K. (2012). Social shopping promotions from a social merchant’s perspective. Business Horizons, 55:441-451,, DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2012.04.001
  18. Lovelock C.H. (1984). Strategies for managing demand in capacity-constrained service organisations. Service Industries Journal, 4: 12-30,, DOI: 10.1080/02642068400000059
  19. MacMillan D. (2011). U.S. Daily Internet deals to reach $4.17 billion by 2015, researcher says. Testo disponibile al sito: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-13/u-s-daily-internet-deals-to-reach-4-17-billion-by-2015-researcher-says.html (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  20. MacMillan, D. (2012). Groupon loses market share in 2nd quarter as daily deals decline. Testo disponibile al sito: http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-08-15-groupon-loses-market-share-in-2nd-quarter-as-daily-deals-decline (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  21. Matzler K., Sauerwein E., Heischmidt K. (2003). Importance-performance analysis revisited: the role of the factor structure of customer satisfaction. The Service Industries Journal, 23: 112-129,, DOI: 10.1080/02642060412331300912
  22. Mauri C. (2011). Marketing per le PMI. Milano: Egea.
  23. Neslin S.A. (1990). A market response model for coupon promotions. Marketing Science, 9: 125-145.
  24. Nickell D., Rollins M., Hellman K. (2013). How to Not Only Survive But Thrive During Recession: A Multi-wave, Discovery-oriented Study. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 28: 455-461,, DOI: 10.1108/08858621311330290
  25. Orfila-Sintes F., Crespi-Cladera R., Martinez-Ros E. (2005). Innovation activity in the hotel industry: Evidence from Balearic Islands. Tourism Management, 26: 851-865, 10.1016/j.tourman.2004.05.005.
  26. Osservatorio B2c – School of Management Politecnico di Milano. (2011). eCommerce B2c in Italia: accelera la crescita, tra nuovi ingressi e modelli di business innovativi. Testo disponibile al sito: http://www.osservatori.net/ecommerce_b2c (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  27. Pezzali M. (2013). Groupon, il sito internet diventato leader mondiale nella vendita di servizi a prezzi scontati, finisce nel mirino dell’Antitrust. Testo disponibile al sito: http://www.radio24.ilsole24ore.com/notizie/2013-12-24/groupon-sito-internet-diventato-105906.php (ultimo accesso/31/12/2013).
  28. Rusconi G. (2013). Groupon licenzia il ceo, paga le perdite e il crollo del titolo. Il sole 24 Ore. Testo disponibile al sito: http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/finanza-e-mercati/2013-03-01/groupon-licenzia-andrew-mason-104715.shtml?uuid=AbABZaZH (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  29. Russell-Bennett R., McColl-Kennedy J.R., Coote L.V. (2007). Involvement, satisfaction, and brand loyalty in a small business services setting. Journal of Business Research, 60: 1253-1260,, DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.05.001
  30. Salvioli L. (2012). Groupon cresce (e assume) in Italia, ma il trimestre è in rosso. Le critiche? ‘Abbiamo fatto degli errori’. In Il sole 24 Ore. Testo disponibile al sito: http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/economia/2012-02-09/groupon-cresce-assume-italia-163623.shtml?uuid=AaRXoPpE (ultimo accesso/20/12/2013).
  31. Sigala M. (2013). A framework for designing and implementing effective online coupons in tourism and hospitality. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 19: 165-180,, DOI: 10.1177/1356766712471839
  32. Srinivasan S.S., Anderson R., Ponnavolu K. (2002). Customer loyalty in e-commerce: an exploration of its antecedents and consequences. Journal of Retailing, 78: 41-50, 10.1016/S0022-4359(01)00065-3.
  33. Van Ryzin G.G., Immerwahr S. (2004). Derived importance-performance analysis of citizen survey data. Public Performance & Management Review, 27: 144-173,, DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2007.00641.x
  34. Wu J., Kimes S.E., Dholakia U. (2012). Restaurant Daily Deals: The Operator Experience. Cornell Hospitality Report, 12: 1-22.

Francesca Magno, Fabiio Cassia, Marta Ugolini, Social couponing campaigns’ effectiveness: a study among Groupon’s merchants in "MERCATI E COMPETITIVITÀ" 3/2014, pp. 41-63, DOI:10.3280/MC2014-003004

   

FrancoAngeli is a member of Publishers International Linking Association a not for profit orgasnization wich runs the CrossRef service, enabing links to and from online scholarly content