When do sellers bifurcate from Electronic Multisided Platforms? The effects of customer demand, competitive intensity, and service differentiation

In today's e-market, many sellers on Electronic Multisided Platforms (EMPs) conduct channel bifurcation, i.e., starting their proprietary websites while maintaining presences on EMPs. This study explores the antecedents of the timing that a seller bifurcates from EMPs. We hypothesize that a seller's customer demand has a U-shaped effect on its EMP membership duration before bifurcation, while competitive intensity has an inverted U-shaped effect. Service differentiation has a negative effect and further dampens the curvilinear effects of customer demand and competitive intensity. Using the data of 422 booksellers on Taobao.com and the accelerated failure time duration model, we found substantial support for our hypotheses.