Eluding the Lemons: Buyer Mindfulness and Seller Deception in Online Auctions

摘要

This paper proposes buyer mindfulness as one means to address quality uncertainty and seller deception in the online auction market. Mindful information processing includes: (1) the creation of new categories by parsing streams of information and activity, (2) active refinement and differentiation of existing categories, and, (3) flexible and nuanced attention to context and detail (Langer 1989, Weick and Putnam 2006). This paper synthesizes research related to mindfulness and deception, assesses the seller deception strategies evident in publicly reported online auction deceptions from 1995-2008, proposes a model of the “mindful"? online auction buyer, contrasts more versus less “mindful"? buyer approaches to evaluating an online auction listing, and explores the importance and implications of increasing buyer mindfulness in the online auction market. Its contributions include integrating the construct of mindfulness into market quality research, reporting updated data on the attributes and strategies of online auction deceptions, and, contrasting mindful and unmindful buyer market evaluation processes. Increased understanding of the role and effects of a more mindful online auction market will aid stakeholders, including market facilitators, regulators, and law enforcement, in designing and implementing more effective mechanisms for nudging buyer attention in ways that reduce fraudulent outcomes, and increase trust, in online auction markets.