Wharton-SMU Research Centre

Brown Bag Seminar

Guest Speaker:

Xavier Dreze
Assistant Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Date & Venue:
Date: 22 June 2007, Friday
Time: 12.00pm-1.00pm
Venue: Seminar Room 2.1 (Room No: 2001), Level 2

Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University
50 Stamford Road, Singapore 178899
( Location Map )

Topic:
Network Effects in Defection

Abstract:
The benefits of network externalities in consumer demand are well documented in marketing; examples include the Bass model, viral marketing. Network externalities are commonly cited as the driving force behind the take-off of many new products such as the telephone or fax machines. One can easily see that word-of-mouth effects may also be detrimental. A dissatisfied customer who defects from a service provider could voice his displeasure to friends or associates, causing them to also defect. We investigate the presence of such negative network effects in the context of the cellular telephone service industry. Our dataset is a sub-network of more than 30,000 Chinese cellular phone users and we study the network effects of defections across customers. Whereas most studies of network effects work at an aggregate level, inferring network effects from derived parameters, we model network relationships among users directly by analyzing individual calling patterns. We show that the defection of customers significantly increases the likelihood of defection of other customers who are related to the defector. This impact is not limited to direct relations; it also transcends degrees of separation. In other words, the negative network effects extend to customers who are related to the defector through mutual acquaintances. The defection influence on indirectly related customers dampens as the degree of separation increases.

Registration:
All are welcome. Seats are limited, please register early to avoid disappointment.
To sign up for this free event, please register online (click here)
Registration closes on 21 June 2007, Thursday (11:00am)

Note: Packed lunch will be provided ONLY for those who have registered.

Enquiries:
Ms. Lim Lih Yeng
Email: lylim@smu.edu.sg , Tel: 6828-0197
Ms. Rozana Bte Osman
Email: rozanaosman@smu.edu.sg , Tel: 6828-0802
Ms. Priscilla Cheng
Email: priscillacheng@smu.edu.sg , Tel: 6828-0383
Ms. Sharmini Blok
Email: sharminiblok@smu.edu.sg , Tel: 6828-0976