Abstract

Mobile channels experience exponential growth in two-sided platforms. While literature has explored effects of mobile adoption on single-side decision-making, there is limited evidence on how mobile changes two-sided behavior, especially when negative effects are critical. We investigate how mobile affects behaviors of both borrowers and lenders in peer-to-peer lending platforms, and the resulting effect on credit risk management and economic return. Leveraging the cognitive load theory, we postulate that borrowers and lender under heavy and mild cognitive load exhibit distinct behaviors. We collaborate with a Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform to launch two-sided field experiments by randomly assigning the mobile treatment to borrowers and lenders. We find that mobile borrowers are more likely to abandon loan submissions, whereas mobile lenders have a higher tendency to approve loans. However, the loan credit risk remains consistent and mobile has a counterintuitive positive effect on profit enhancement. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications.

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Paper Number 1707; Track Crowds; Complete Paper

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