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Competitive Framing

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  • Ran Spiegler

Abstract

I present a simple framework for modeling two-firm market competition when consumer choice is "frame-dependent", and firms use costless "marketing messages" to influence the consumer's frame. This framework embeds several recent models in the "behavioral industrial organization" literature. I identify a property that consumer choice may satisfy, which extends the concept of Weighted Regularity due to Piccione and Spiegler (2012), and provide a characterization of Nash equilibria under this property. I use this result to analyze the equilibrium interplay between competition and framing in a variety of applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Ran Spiegler, 2014. "Competitive Framing," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 35-58, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmic:v:6:y:2014:i:3:p:35-58
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mic.6.3.35
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yiquan Gu & Tobias Wenzel, 2014. "Strategic Obfuscation and Consumer Protection Policy," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 632-660, December.
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    3. Topolyan, Iryna, 2017. "Price competition when three are few and four are many," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 175-191.
    4. Yongjie Yang & Dinko Dimitrov, 2019. "The complexity of shelflisting," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 86(1), pages 123-141, February.
    5. Kfir Eliaz & Ran Spiegler, 2015. "Beyond “Ellison’s Matrix”: New Directions in Behavioral Industrial Organization," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(3), pages 259-272, November.
    6. Ewerhart, Christian & Li, Sheng, 2023. "Imposing Choice on the Uninformed: The Case of Dynamic Currency Conversion," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    7. Karpov, Aleksandr, 2017. "Price competition and limited attention," Economics Discussion Papers 2017-89, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Paolo Crosetto & Alexia Gaudeul, 2017. "Choosing not to compete: Can firms maintain high prices by confusing consumers?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 897-922, December.
    9. Samir Mamadehussene, 2020. "The Interplay Between Obfuscation and Prominence in Price Comparison Platforms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(10), pages 4843-4862, October.
    10. Roos, Nicolas de & Smirnov, Vladimir, 2021. "Collusion, price dispersion, and fringe competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    11. Burkovskaya, Anastasia & Li, Jian, 2020. "Comparative Profitability of Product Disclosure Statements," Working Papers 2020-01, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    12. Michael Grubb, 2015. "Failing to Choose the Best Price: Theory, Evidence, and Policy," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(3), pages 303-340, November.
    13. Yiquan Gu & Tobias Wenzel, 2017. "Consumer confusion, obfuscation and price regulation," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 64(2), pages 169-190, May.
    14. Gu, Yiquan & Wenzel, Tobias, 2015. "Putting on a tight leash and levelling playing field: An experiment in strategic obfuscation and consumer protection," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 120-128.
    15. Gotfredsen, Andreas & Nielsen, Carsten S. & Sebald, Alexander C. & Webb, Edward J.D., 2021. "Manipulating perception: The effect of product similarity on valuations and markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 263-286.
    16. Lunn, Pete & Somerville, Jason J., 2015. "Surplus Identification with Non-Linear Returns," Papers WP522, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    17. Crosetto, P. & Gaudeul, A., 2014. "Choosing whether to compete: Price and format competition with consumer confusion," Working Papers 2014-08, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).
    18. Edward John Dorrell Webb, 2014. "Do we see monopoly or duopoly? The influence of perception on entry deterrence," Discussion Papers 14-20, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    19. Wolff, Irenaeus, 2021. "The lottery player’s fallacy: Why labels predict strategic choices," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 16-29.
    20. Papi, Mauro, 2018. "Price competition with satisficing consumers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 252-272.
    21. Mauro Papi, 2014. "Noncompensatory consideration and compensatory choice: an application to Stackelberg competition," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 2(1), pages 53-63, April.
    22. Edward J. D. Webb, 2017. "If It’s All the Same to You: Blurred Consumer Perception and Market Structure," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 50(1), pages 1-25, February.
    23. Nicolas de Roos, 2018. "Collusion with limited product comparability," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 49(3), pages 481-503, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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