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The impact of consumer’s regret on firms’ decisions in a durable good market

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  • Qianshuo Liu

    (Ramon Llull University)

Abstract

This paper studies how the consumer’s anticipated regret affects the firms’ pricing decisions and profits in a duopoly market. I consider a two-period game with differentiated durable products, where an incumbent sells a basic version over two periods, and an entrant releases an improved version in period 2, of which the improved features are difficult to assess by the consumers. This ambiguity will lead to regret. This paper focuses on two types of regret: a consumer may regret purchasing in period 1 instead of purchasing in period 2 (action regret); a consumer who waited until period 2 might regret not buying in period 1 (inaction regret). The consumers can anticipate the possible regret, which will influence the consumer’s decision-making. The results show that both types of anticipated regret may increase or decrease the incumbent’s profit. In contrast, action (inaction) regret always benefits (harms) the entrant. Besides, the analysis indicates that the improved version’s quality may either strengthen or weaken the impact of regret. Moreover, this paper examines the robustness of the results under different setups.

Suggested Citation

  • Qianshuo Liu, 2023. "The impact of consumer’s regret on firms’ decisions in a durable good market," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 125-157, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jeczfn:v:139:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s00712-023-00819-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s00712-023-00819-w
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumers’ anticipated regret; Uncertainty; Duopoly competition; Durable good;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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