Visibility in Digital Markets: Measuring Risks and Economic Consequences

数字市场的兴起为企业提供了前所未有的机会与客户互动并推广其产品。一个公司在这些市场上成功的关键因素是它的知名度-即，潜在客户能够在网上找到公司的程度-因此，知名度的损失可能对公司及其投资者产生严重的经济后果。尽管非财务风险在企业风险管理（ERM）中得到了越来越多的关注，但数字市场中可见性损失的风险和经济后果仍然在很大程度上被忽视。为了缩小这一差距，该研究项目旨在开发一个框架，以量化公司在数字市场中的知名度，知名度损失的风险以及知名度损失的经济后果。我们建议在两个重要的实证环境中应用和验证开发的框架：搜索引擎和在线市场。通过三个单独的项目模块，我们努力通过以下方式更好地整合风险管理和营销：（i）引入创新方法来衡量与数字市场可见性损失相关的风险;（ii）为公司及其投资者提供风险经济影响的衡量标准;（iii）提供公司如何向利益相关者传达这种风险的例子。

The rise of digital markets presented firms with unprecedented opportunities to engage with customers and promote their products. A key element to a firm’s success in these markets is its visibility – i.e., the extent to which potential customers are able to find the firm online – such that a visibility loss can have severe economic consequences for the firm and its investors. Despite the increasing attention that non-financial risks have gained in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), the risk and economic consequences of a visibility loss in digital markets remain largely overlooked. To close this gap, this research project aims to develop a framework to quantify the visibility of a firm in digital markets, the risk of a visibility loss and the economic consequences of a visibility loss. We propose to apply and validate the developed framework in two important empirical settings: search engines and online marketplaces. With three individual project modules, we strive for a better integration of risk management and marketing by: (i) introducing innovative methods to measure the risk associated with visibility losses in digital markets; (ii) providing a measure of the economic impact of the risk for the firm and its investors; and (iii) providing examples of how firms can communicate this risk to their stakeholders.