Price competition in markets with customer testing: The captive customer effect

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Autoren

  • Heidrun C. Hoppe
  • Ulrich Lehmann-Grube

Organisationseinheiten

Forschungs-netzwerk anzeigen

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)497-521
Seitenumfang25
FachzeitschriftEconomic theory
Jahrgang35
Ausgabenummer3
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Juni 2008

Abstract

We introduce product differentiation into the analysis of price competition in markets where suppliers test customers in order to assess whether they will pay for received goods or services. We find that, if the degree of differentiation is sufficiently high, suppliers may improve the average probability that their clientele will pay by charging higher prices. This helps suppliers to sustain high prices in equilibrium. Moreover, endogenizing locations in product space, we demonstrate that the high price level can be implemented in a pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibrium with a high degree of differentiation. This is in contrast to the original Hotelling model with linear travel costs where a pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibrium fails to exist.

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Zitieren

Price competition in markets with customer testing: The captive customer effect. / Hoppe, Heidrun C.; Lehmann-Grube, Ulrich.
in: Economic theory, Jahrgang 35, Nr. 3, 06.2008, S. 497-521.

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Hoppe HC, Lehmann-Grube U. Price competition in markets with customer testing: The captive customer effect. Economic theory. 2008 Jun;35(3):497-521. doi: 10.1007/s00199-007-0250-7
Hoppe, Heidrun C. ; Lehmann-Grube, Ulrich. / Price competition in markets with customer testing : The captive customer effect. in: Economic theory. 2008 ; Jahrgang 35, Nr. 3. S. 497-521.
Download
@article{2d300cc46efc4744a62f23621d2f6555,
title = "Price competition in markets with customer testing: The captive customer effect",
abstract = "We introduce product differentiation into the analysis of price competition in markets where suppliers test customers in order to assess whether they will pay for received goods or services. We find that, if the degree of differentiation is sufficiently high, suppliers may improve the average probability that their clientele will pay by charging higher prices. This helps suppliers to sustain high prices in equilibrium. Moreover, endogenizing locations in product space, we demonstrate that the high price level can be implemented in a pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibrium with a high degree of differentiation. This is in contrast to the original Hotelling model with linear travel costs where a pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibrium fails to exist.",
keywords = "Hotelling, Iterated elimination of strictly dominated strategies, Mixed strategies, Price competition, Testing",
author = "Hoppe, {Heidrun C.} and Ulrich Lehmann-Grube",
year = "2008",
month = jun,
doi = "10.1007/s00199-007-0250-7",
language = "English",
volume = "35",
pages = "497--521",
journal = "Economic theory",
issn = "0938-2259",
publisher = "Springer New York",
number = "3",

}

Download

TY - JOUR

T1 - Price competition in markets with customer testing

T2 - The captive customer effect

AU - Hoppe, Heidrun C.

AU - Lehmann-Grube, Ulrich

PY - 2008/6

Y1 - 2008/6

N2 - We introduce product differentiation into the analysis of price competition in markets where suppliers test customers in order to assess whether they will pay for received goods or services. We find that, if the degree of differentiation is sufficiently high, suppliers may improve the average probability that their clientele will pay by charging higher prices. This helps suppliers to sustain high prices in equilibrium. Moreover, endogenizing locations in product space, we demonstrate that the high price level can be implemented in a pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibrium with a high degree of differentiation. This is in contrast to the original Hotelling model with linear travel costs where a pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibrium fails to exist.

AB - We introduce product differentiation into the analysis of price competition in markets where suppliers test customers in order to assess whether they will pay for received goods or services. We find that, if the degree of differentiation is sufficiently high, suppliers may improve the average probability that their clientele will pay by charging higher prices. This helps suppliers to sustain high prices in equilibrium. Moreover, endogenizing locations in product space, we demonstrate that the high price level can be implemented in a pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibrium with a high degree of differentiation. This is in contrast to the original Hotelling model with linear travel costs where a pure-strategy subgame-perfect equilibrium fails to exist.

KW - Hotelling

KW - Iterated elimination of strictly dominated strategies

KW - Mixed strategies

KW - Price competition

KW - Testing

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=40849100250&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s00199-007-0250-7

DO - 10.1007/s00199-007-0250-7

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:40849100250

VL - 35

SP - 497

EP - 521

JO - Economic theory

JF - Economic theory

SN - 0938-2259

IS - 3

ER -