We analyze the diffusion of a new product of uncertain value in a duopolistic market. Both sides of the market, buyers and sellers, learn the true value of the new product from experiments with it. Buyers have heterogeneous preferences over the products and sellers compete in prices. The pricing policies and market shares in the unique Markov-perfect equilibrium are obtained explicitly. The dynamics of the equilibrium market shares display excessive sales of the new product relative to the social optimum in early stages and too-low sales later on. The diffusion path of a successful product is S-shaped.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Volume (Year): 28 (1997) Issue (Month): 4 (Winter) Pages: 773-795 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
(with abstract),
plain text
(with abstract),
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite),
ReDIF
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)
Dinah Rosenberg & Eilon Solan & Nicolas Vieille, 2004.
"Social Learning in One-Arm Bandit Problems,"
Discussion Papers
1396, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
[Downloadable!]
Other versions:
Dirk Bergemann & Juuso Valimaki, 1996.
"Experimentation in Markets,"
Discussion Papers
1220, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
[Downloadable!]