The Empirical Economics of Online Attention

52 Pages Posted: 18 Jul 2016 Last revised: 12 Oct 2024

See all articles by Andre Boik

Andre Boik

University of California, Davis - Department of Economics

Shane M. Greenstein

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Harvard University - Technology & Operations Management Unit

Jeffrey Prince

Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 2016

Abstract

In several markets, firms compete not for consumer expenditure but instead for consumer attention. We model and characterize how households allocate their scarce attention in arguably the largest market for attention: the Internet. Our characterization of household attention allocation operates along three dimensions: how much attention is allocated, where that attention is allocated, and how that attention is allocated. Using click-stream data for thousands of U.S. households, we assess if and how attention allocation on each dimension changed between 2008 and 2013, a time of large increases in online offerings. We identify vast and expected changes in where households allocate their attention (away from chat and news towards video and social media), and yet we simultaneously identify remarkable stability in how much attention is allocated and how it is allocated. Specifically, we identify (i) persistence in the elasticity of attention according to income and (ii) complete stability in the dispersion of attention across sites and in the intensity of attention within sites. We illustrate how this finding is difficult to reconcile with standard models of optimal attention allocation and suggest alternatives that may be more suitable. We conclude that increasingly valuable offerings change where households go online, but not their general online attention patterns. This conclusion has important implications for competition and welfare in other markets for attention.

Suggested Citation

Boik, Andre and Greenstein, Shane M. and Greenstein, Shane M. and Prince, Jeffrey, The Empirical Economics of Online Attention (July 2016). NBER Working Paper No. w22427, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2810936

Andre Boik (Contact Author)

University of California, Davis - Department of Economics ( email )

One Shields Drive
Davis, CA 95616-8578
United States

Shane M. Greenstein

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Harvard University - Technology & Operations Management Unit ( email )

Boston, MA 02163
United States

Jeffrey Prince

Kelley School of Business, Indiana University ( email )

1309 E. Tenth Street
Kelley School of Business
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States
8128562692 (Phone)
47405 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://https://kelley.iu.edu/jeffprin/

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