T HE N EGATIVE I MPACT OF M OBILE D EVICES ON N ICHE P RODUCT C ONSUMPTION Research - in - Progress

Internet based information technology has provided the paradigm shift from Pareto principle to long tail phenomenon. However, the advent of small size mobile devices with higher search costs raises a negative question on this paradigm shift. The aim of this study is investigating the negative impact of mobile devices on niche product consumption. We collect 10 million user-device level transaction data with user profiles and content characteristics from a nation-wide e-book company in East Asia. We analyze the large size data with Pareto curve estimation and econometric modeling. As key findings, we found that smart phone users’ product sales are more concentrated than those of users with PCs or smart pads. Our empirical results support that mobile commerce markets do not follow long tail phenomenon, but follow “Pareto Principle” in terms of sales diversity because smart phone users have less willingness to purchase unpopular products than smart pad users.