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Smell of a deal lures test subjects
Prof studies consumer behaviour by manipulating online auction site
Keith Gerein, The Edmonton Journal
Published: 6:03 amEDMONTON - For most university scholars, research grants are a lifeline used to pay for essential items such as lab assistants, specialized equipment and travel expenses.
Peter Popkowski Leszczyc uses his grants to go shopping.
The University of Alberta professor buys all sorts of goods -- from hockey jerseys to MP3 players and digital cameras -- then puts them up for sale on his own auction website to study online consumer behaviour.
U of A marketing professor Peter Popkowski Leszczyc patterned his online site after eBay.
Larry Wong, The Journal
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The site (http://www.campusauctionmarket.com/) also hosts a number of special charity auctions, giving non-profits an inexpensive venue to raise money, while at the same time providing Popkowski Leszczyc with more shoppers to study. About $1.7 million has been raised for charity through the site in the past four years.
"While this is a little different than a normal situation, fellow researchers realize this is an important and novel way of collecting data," Popkowski Leszczyc said.
"I don't know any other academics who have such a facility available to run these studies."
Popkowski Leszczyc, a marketing expert, said he started his auction site about six years ago after witnessing the popularity of eBay.
He realized his own online service would allow him to observe the "real-world" conduct of consumers.
Unlike surveys or laboratory tests -- both of which can produce skewed results because test subjects know the answers they give have no personal impact -- a real auction site has shoppers making decisions that have meaningful consequences for them.
Having his own online venue also gives Popkowski Leszczyc the ability to manipulate auctions in different ways to study the impact on how often people bid, how much they bid, whether they wait until the last minute and so on.
For example, he might reduce the description of certain items, or not include pictures, to see if such action causes bidders to back off.
Popkowski Leszczyc said he buys an average of 500 items for the site each year, usually choosing products that will sell at decent prices, or at least allow him to break even.
However, since his site is set up for research, there is less pressure for him to make money. That means shoppers can occasionally find good deals, including one recent consumer who bought a $110 Oilers jersey for $48.
"It depends on what I want to study," he said. "For example, if I'm providing a lot of information on an item or very little information, that can influence how much the item will sell for.
"Sometimes that means you are losing more money on it, but you also need that kind of data for the study."
Popkowski Leszczyc said he's run auction studies that broke even and some that lost about $2,000. In the cases where he makes money, he donates a portion to charity.
The auction site now has about 7,000 registered users, all of whom are assigned an anonymous ID number that Popkowski Leszczyc uses to compare the behaviour of repeat visitors.
Past research conducted through the website has focused on a number of trends, including bidding frenzies and the effectiveness of bundling different products together in a package.
