We might like to think we're not influenced by other people, but a new study into the group-buying mechanisms（机制） - like those used on coupon（优惠券） sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial - reveals that telling buyers who come later to the offer how many have already signed up increases the number of purchasers.
Researchers at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management wanted to understand why group buying sites that have entered the market recently have enjoyed greater success than those operating a decade ago, such as Mercata and MobShop.
Earlier attempts typically left potential buyers waiting for days before confirming whether or not they had got the offer they had signed up for.
“We think one of the reasons group-buying has been successful recently is because of the short time horizon,” says Rotman Professor Ming Hu, who co-wrote the study with Professor Mengze Shi and PhD student Jiahua Wu. “It allows for a herding effect.”
Another reason is the use of an information structure that discloses to later arrivals how many have already signed onto the deal.
Researchers looked at two ways of designing the purchasing mechanism for a group buy:a simultaneous mechanism, where no one knows how many buyers have come before them, and asequential（连续的） mechanism, where a second group of buyers has the advantage of knowing the size of the first group.
The researchers' analytical（分析的） model shows the most successful mechanism is the sequential one because it eliminates uncertainty for those coming later to the deal, and improves the confidence of those who sign on early, as they're able to track the numbers of those who come after them.
“That boosts confidence,” says Professor Hu, who teaches operations management. Deals for "luxury" services, versus everyday items, work better in a group buy scenario（方案） because they offer consumers a greater benefit.
小题1:It can be learned from the text that ______.
A．the short time horizon is the reason why group-buying has been successful.
B．a simultaneous mechanism is where a group of buyers has the advantage of knowing how many people have signed up.
C．a sequential mechanism allows a herding effect which boosts the confidence of the buyers.
D．researchers at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management carried out an experiment about why group buying sites entered the market successfully, such as Mercata and MobShop.小题2:The underlined word “eliminates” in paragraph 7 probably means“______”.
A．to become or to make something greater in amount, number, value
B．to remove or get rid of something
C．to deliberately not include something in what you are doing or considering
D．to make something known to somebody小题3:What can be the best title for the passage?
A．Secret for marketing success – boosting confidence.
B．Secret for group-buying mechanism—herding effect.
C．Comparison between a simultaneous mechanism and a sequential mechanism.
D．What others do influences our decisions.
