IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jemstr/v20y2011i2p451-473.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pricing Experience Goods: The Effects of Customer Recognition and Commitment

Author

Listed:
  • Bing Jing

Abstract

In a two‐period model of nondurable experience goods, we compare the profit and social welfare effects of behavior‐based price discrimination (BBPD) and price commitment (PC) (relative to time‐consistent pricing) in a monopoly. We find that when the static, full‐information monopoly price is higher (lower) than the mean consumer valuation, PC yields higher (lower) profits and social welfare than BBPD. We also identify the market conditions under which BBPD does not increase firm profits and provide an explanation as to when the firm should discriminate against its first‐time and repeat customers, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Bing Jing, 2011. "Pricing Experience Goods: The Effects of Customer Recognition and Commitment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 451-473, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jemstr:v:20:y:2011:i:2:p:451-473
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9134.2011.00294.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9134.2011.00294.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1530-9134.2011.00294.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas Gale & Robert W. Rosenthal, 1994. "Price and Quality Cycles for Experience Goods," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(4), pages 590-607, Winter.
    2. John Conlisk & Eitan Gerstner & Joel Sobel, 1984. "Cyclic Pricing by a Durable Goods Monopolist," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 99(3), pages 489-505.
    3. Drew Fudenberg & Jean Tirole, 2000. "Customer Poaching and Brand Switching," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 634-657, Winter.
    4. Sobel, Joel, 1991. "Durable Goods Monopoly with Entry of New Consumers," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(5), pages 1455-1485, September.
    5. Taylor, Curtis R, 2003. "Supplier Surfing: Competition and Consumer Behavior in Subscription Markets," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 34(2), pages 223-246, Summer.
    6. Greg Shaffer & Z. John Zhang, 2000. "Pay to Switch or Pay to Stay: Preference‐Based Price Discrimination in Markets with Switching Costs," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 397-424, June.
    7. Carl Shapiro, 1983. "Optimal Pricing of Experience Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 497-507, Autumn.
    8. Yongmin Chen, 1997. "Paying Customers to Switch," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(4), pages 877-897, December.
    9. Jacques Cremer, 1984. "On the Economics of Repeat Buying," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(3), pages 396-403, Autumn.
    10. Igal Hendel & Paolo Dudine & Alessandro Lizzeri, 2006. "Storable Good Monopoly: The Role of Commitment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1706-1719, December.
    11. Curtis R. Taylor, 2004. "Consumer Privacy and the Market for Customer Information," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 35(4), pages 631-650, Winter.
    12. Nancy L. Stokey, 1981. "Rational Expectations and Durable Goods Pricing," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(1), pages 112-128, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thomas, Catherine & Chen, Zhuoqiong (Charlie) & Stanton, Christopher T., 2020. "Information Spillovers in Experience Goods Competition," CEPR Discussion Papers 15255, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Zhang, Qiao & Zaccour, Georges & Zhang, Jianxiong & Tang, Wansheng, 2020. "Strategic pricing under quality signaling and imitation behaviors in supply chains," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    3. Alessandro Acquisti & Curtis Taylor & Liad Wagman, 2016. "The Economics of Privacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(2), pages 442-492, June.
    4. Yang, Rui & Tang, Wansheng & Dou, Mengdi & Zhang, Jianxiong, 2021. "Pricing and investing in co-creation with customers for a duopoly," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    5. Flavio Pino, 2022. "The microeconomics of data – a survey," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(3), pages 635-665, September.
    6. Tuo Wang & Michael Y. Hu, 2019. "Differential pricing with consumers’ valuation uncertainty by a monopoly," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 247-255, June.
    7. Bing Jing, 2017. "Behavior-Based Pricing, Production Efficiency, and Quality Differentiation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(7), pages 2365-2376, July.
    8. Bing Jing, 2016. "Customer Recognition in Experience vs. Inspection Good Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(1), pages 216-224, January.
    9. Lynne Pepall & Daniel Richards, 2021. "Targeted Value-Enhancing Advertising and Price Competition," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 59(3), pages 443-459, November.
    10. Monire Jalili & Michael S. Pangburn, 2020. "Pricing Joint Sales and Rentals: When are Purchase Conversion Discounts Optimal?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(12), pages 2679-2695, December.
    11. Jia, Kunhao & Liao, Xiuwu & Feng, Juan, 2018. "Selling or leasing? Dynamic pricing of software with upgrades," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 266(3), pages 1044-1061.
    12. De Nijs, Romain & Rhodes, Andrew, 2013. "Behavior-based pricing with experience goods," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 155-158.
    13. Arieh Gavious & Ella Segev, 2017. "Price Discrimination Based on Buyers’ Purchase History," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 229-265, June.
    14. Shen, Na & Su, Jun, 2015. "A comparison of different contract forms for consumers with switching costs and changed preferences," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 19-26.
    15. Sumit Shrivastav, 2021. "Price discrimination with imperfect consumer recognition," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2021-017, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    16. Hikmet Gunay, 2014. "Waiting for Signaling Quality," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(2), pages 364-386, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Byung‐Cheol Kim & Jay Pil Choi, 2010. "Customer Information Sharing: Strategic Incentives and New Implications," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 403-433, June.
    2. De Nijs, Romain, 2017. "Behavior-based price discrimination and customer information sharing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 319-334.
    3. Romain de Nijs, 2015. "Behavior-based price discrimination and customer information sharing," PSE Working Papers hal-01226250, HAL.
    4. Vincent Conitzer & Curtis R. Taylor & Liad Wagman, 2012. "Hide and Seek: Costly Consumer Privacy in a Market with Repeat Purchases," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 277-292, March.
    5. Hoe Sang Chung, 2016. "Behavior-Based Price Discrimination with Experience Goods," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(5), pages 675-695, September.
    6. Bing Jing, 2016. "Customer Recognition in Experience vs. Inspection Good Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(1), pages 216-224, January.
    7. Oz Shy & Rune Stenbacka, 2016. "Customer Privacy and Competition," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 539-562, September.
    8. Flavio Pino, 2022. "The microeconomics of data – a survey," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(3), pages 635-665, September.
    9. Curtis Taylor & Liad Wagman, 2008. "Who Benefits From Online Privacy?," Working Papers 08-26, NET Institute.
    10. Romain de Nijs, 2015. "Behavior-based price discrimination and customer information sharing," Working Papers hal-01226250, HAL.
    11. Mark Armstrong, 2005. "Recent Developments in the Economics of Price Discrimination," Industrial Organization 0511004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Stole, Lars A., 2007. "Price Discrimination and Competition," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 34, pages 2221-2299, Elsevier.
    13. Asplund, Marcus & Eriksson, Rickard & Strand, Niklas, 2001. "Price Discrimination in Oligopoly: Evidence from Swedish Newspapers," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 468, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 01 Jan 2007.
    14. Chen, Yuxin & Zhang, Z. John, 2009. "Dynamic targeted pricing with strategic consumers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 43-50, January.
    15. Carroni, Elias & Ferrari, Luca & Righi, Simone, 2019. "The price of discovering your needs online," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 317-330.
    16. Jiwoong Shin & K. Sudhir, 2010. "A Customer Management Dilemma: When Is It Profitable to Reward One's Own Customers?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 671-689, 07-08.
    17. Rosa Branca Esteves, 2009. "A Survey on the Economics of Behaviour-Based Price Discrimination," NIPE Working Papers 5/2009, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    18. Jeong, Yuncheol & Maruyama, Masayoshi, 2018. "Positioning and pricing strategies in a market with switching costs and staying costs," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 47-57.
    19. Yuk‐fai Fong & Qihong Liu, 2011. "Loyalty Rewards Facilitate Tacit Collusion," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 739-775, September.
    20. Arieh Gavious & Ella Segev, 2017. "Price Discrimination Based on Buyers’ Purchase History," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 229-265, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jemstr:v:20:y:2011:i:2:p:451-473. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/journals/JEMS/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.