Dynamic Effects of Visibility Shocks: Evidence on Demand and Pricing in Digital Marketplaces

Dynamic Effects of Visibility Shocks: Evidence on Demand and Pricing in Digital Marketplaces | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Dynamic Effects of Visibility Shocks: Evidence on Demand and Pricing in Digital Marketplaces Kuo-Chen Huang, Min-Hsin Huang, Tian Tian This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9349904/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Visibility is a core allocation mechanism in digital markets. This paper develops a dynamic empirical framework in which platform-induced visibility changes act as exposure shocks that transmit through consumer attention and seller response. Using within-product event-time variation from a large online marketplace, the analysis estimates the dynamic effect of visibility improvements on demand and pricing. The main event-study results show that visibility gains generate large, immediate, and persistent increases in demand, while price responses are positive but smaller and slower. The paper’s main contribution is to embed visibility in a mechanism-based decomposition that separates exposure transmission from behavioral adjustment, thereby linking reduced-form estimates to economically interpretable components. This framework clarifies whether platform design operates through consumer discovery, seller pricing, or both. The evidence indicates that attention-driven demand amplification is the dominant channel. Effects are stronger for low-substitutability products and smaller sellers, consistent with binding exposure constraints. The findings imply that algorithmic discoverability has important consequences for competition, seller inequality, and market efficiency. Platform visibility Digital marketplaces Consumer attention Dynamic event study Algorithmic market power Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9349904","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":624364970,"identity":"bfc69b08-b2b2-4afa-ad54-713378bd509a","order_by":0,"name":"Kuo-Chen Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Sun Yat-sen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kuo-Chen","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":624364971,"identity":"7556376d-44ad-40da-993c-7a7bc18446c3","order_by":1,"name":"Min-Hsin Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Sun Yat-sen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Min-Hsin","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":624364972,"identity":"ac0e7b26-012a-4fd9-8687-c7d6ee64067a","order_by":2,"name":"Tian Tian","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Illinois Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tian","middleName":"","lastName":"Tian","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-08 00:23:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9349904/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9349904/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108182954,"identity":"f47d949f-bb4a-4a2c-9605-43a7e525107a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-30 08:59:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":610877,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscriptwithauthorinfo1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9349904/v1_covered_3fbfda4f-5d77-48ca-a1af-01d3ce1aafc7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Dynamic Effects of Visibility Shocks: Evidence on Demand and Pricing in Digital Marketplaces","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Platform visibility, Digital marketplaces, Consumer attention, Dynamic event study, Algorithmic market power","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9349904/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9349904/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eVisibility is a core allocation mechanism in digital markets. 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