IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/revind/v63y2023i1d10.1007_s11151-023-09904-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Path Dependence as a Path to Consumer Surplus and Loyalty

Author

Listed:
  • Sherzod B. Akhundjanov

    (Utah State University)

  • Ben O. Smith

    (University of Nebraska at Omaha)

  • Max St. Brown

    (Bonneville Power Administration)

Abstract

In the technology and design industries, one product builds on another: A smart television enhances a smart phone. However, due to complementary features, the utility that is gained by owning both products from the same firm is greater than the sum of the two products’ utility if purchased from separate firms. Aftermarkets suggest that the margins of the second product would increase. Instead, we show that the firms’ complementary utility offset each other, which results in reduced prices. Further, consumer purchase behavior is a function of the product release order; given a different release schedule, some consumers would purchase from a different company.

Suggested Citation

  • Sherzod B. Akhundjanov & Ben O. Smith & Max St. Brown, 2023. "Path Dependence as a Path to Consumer Surplus and Loyalty," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 63(1), pages 1-20, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:63:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s11151-023-09904-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-023-09904-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11151-023-09904-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11151-023-09904-2?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Glenn Ellison, 2005. "A Model of Add-On Pricing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 585-637.
    2. Miguel Villas-Boas, J., 2015. "A short survey on switching costs and dynamic competition," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 219-222.
    3. Paul Klemperer, 1995. "Competition when Consumers have Switching Costs: An Overview with Applications to Industrial Organization, Macroeconomics, and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(4), pages 515-539.
    4. Anderson, Simon P & de Palma, Andre, 1992. "Multiproduct Firms: A Nested Logit Approach," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 261-276, September.
    5. Avner Shaked & John Sutton, 1990. "Multiproduct Firms and Market Structure," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 45-62, Spring.
    6. Andrew B. Bernard & Stephen J. Redding & Peter K. Schott, 2010. "Multiple-Product Firms and Product Switching," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(1), pages 70-97, March.
    7. Natalia Fabra & Alfredo García, 2015. "Dynamic Price Competition with Switching Costs," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 540-567, December.
    8. Farrell, Joseph & Shapiro, Carl, 1989. "Optimal Contracts with Lock-In," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 51-68, March.
    9. Drew Fudenberg & Jean Tirole, 2000. "Customer Poaching and Brand Switching," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 634-657, Winter.
    10. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June.
    11. Raubitschek, Ruth S, 1987. "A Model of Product Proliferation with Multiproduct Firms," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 269-279, March.
    12. Joseph Farrell & Carl Shapiro, 1988. "Dynamic Competition with Switching Costs," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(1), pages 123-137, Spring.
    13. Paul Klemperer, 1987. "Markets with Consumer Switching Costs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 102(2), pages 375-394.
    14. Neven, Damien, 1985. "Two Stage (Perfect) Equilibrium in Hotelling's Model," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 317-325, March.
    15. Beggs, Alan W & Klemperer, Paul, 1992. "Multi-period Competition with Switching Costs," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(3), pages 651-666, May.
    16. Paul Klemperer, 1987. "The Competitiveness of Markets with Switching Costs," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(1), pages 138-150, Spring.
    17. Klemperer, Paul D, 1987. "Entry Deterrence in Markets with Consumer Switching Costs," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(388a), pages 99-117, Supplemen.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Miguel Villas-Boas, J., 2015. "A short survey on switching costs and dynamic competition," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 219-222.
    2. Ciotti, Fabrizio & Hornuf, Lars & Stenzhorn, Eliza, 2021. "Lock-In Effects in Online Labor Markets," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2021014, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    3. Toker Doganoglu, 2010. "Switching costs, experience goods and dynamic price competition," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 167-205, June.
    4. Luis Cabral, 2016. "Dynamic Pricing in Customer Markets with Switching Costs," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 20, pages 43-62, April.
    5. Jason Allen & Shaoteng Li, 2020. "Dynamic Competition in Negotiated Price Markets," Staff Working Papers 20-22, Bank of Canada.
    6. AOKI Reiko & ARAI Yasuhiro, 2013. "Evolution of Standards and Innovation," Discussion papers 13075, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Chod, Jiri & Lyandres, Evgeny, 2023. "Product market competition with crypto tokens and smart contracts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(1), pages 73-91.
    8. Belleflamme,Paul & Peitz,Martin, 2015. "Industrial Organization," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107687899, January.
    9. Mengze Shi, 2013. "A theoretical analysis of endogenous and exogenous switching costs," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 205-230, June.
    10. Aoki, Reiko & Arai, Yasuhiro, 2013. "Standards and Innovation: Technology vs. Installed Base," CIS Discussion paper series 601, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    11. Mark J. Tremblay, 2019. "Platform Competition and Endogenous Switching Costs," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 537-559, December.
    12. Koray Cosguner & Tat Y. Chan & P. B. (Seethu) Seetharaman, 2018. "Dynamic Pricing in a Distribution Channel in the Presence of Switching Costs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 1212-1229, March.
    13. Rizkiah, Siti K. & Disli, Mustafa & Salim, Kinan & Razak, Lutfi A., 2021. "Switching costs and bank competition: Evidence from dual banking economies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    14. Guney, Begum & Richter, Michael, 2018. "Costly switching from a status quo," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 55-70.
    15. Xuying Zhao & Hong Guo & Gangshu Cai & Subhajyoti Bandyopadhyay, 2021. "The Role of Expectation–Reality Discrepancy in Service Contracts," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(11), pages 4160-4175, November.
    16. Kummitha, Rama Krishna Reddy, 2018. "Entrepreneurial urbanism and technological panacea: Why Smart City planning needs to go beyond corporate visioning?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 330-339.
    17. Luis Cabral, 2012. "Switching Costs and Equilibrium Prices," Working Papers 12-04, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    18. Michael Waldman, 2010. "Competition, Monopoly, and Aftermarkets," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 54-91, April.
    19. Amit Mehra & Ram Bala & Ramesh Sankaranarayanan, 2012. "Competitive Behavior-Based Price Discrimination for Software Upgrades," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 60-74, March.
    20. Mengze Shi, 2013. "A theoretical analysis of endogenous and exogenous switching costs," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 205-230, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Aftermarkets; Bounded rationality; Complementary goods; Hotelling; Path dependence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection

    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:kap:revind:v:63:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s11151-023-09904-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.