This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

A Model of Add-on Pricing

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Glenn Ellison

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This paper examines competitive price discrimination with horizontal and vertical taste differences. Consumers with higher valuations for quality are assumed to have stronger brand preferences. Two models are considered: a standard competitive price discrimination model in which consumers observe all prices; and an "add-on pricing" game in which add-on prices are naturally unobserved and firms may advertise a base good at a low price in hopes of selling add-ons at high unadvertised prices. In the standard game price discrimination is self-reinforcing: the model sometimes has both equilibria in which the firms practice price discrimination and equilibria in which they do not. The analysis of the add-on pricing game focuses on the Chicago-school argument that profits earned on add-ons will be competed away via lower prices for advertised goods. A conclusion is that add-on practices can raise equilibrium profits by creating an adverse selection problem that makes price-cutting unappealing. Although profitable when jointly adopted, using add-on pricing is not individually rational in a simple extension with endogenous advertising practices and costless advertising. Several models that could account for add-on pricing are discussed. © 2005 MIT Press

Download Info
To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
1. Check below under "Related research" whether another version of this item is available online.
2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

Publisher Info
Article provided by MIT Press in its journal The Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Volume (Year): 120 (2005)
Issue (Month): 2 (May)
Pages: 585-637
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:tpr:qjecon:v:120:y:2005:i:2:p:585-637

Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://mitpress.mit.edu/journals/

Order Information:
Web: http://mitpress.mit.edu/journal-home.tcl?issn=00335533

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Christopher F. Baum).

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

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.:
  1. Verboven, Frank, 1999. "Product Line Rivalry and Market Segmentation--With an Application to Automobile Optional Engine Pricing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(4), pages 399-425, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Raymond J. Deneckere & R. Preston McAfee, 1996. "Damaged Goods," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 149-174, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Armstrong, Mark, 2006. "Price discrimination," MPRA Paper 4693, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Judith A. Chevalier & Anil K Kashyap & Peter E. Rossi, 2003. "Why Don't Prices Rise During Periods of Peak Demand? Evidence from Scanner Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 15-37, March. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2005. "Shrouded Attributes, Consumer Myopia, and Information Suppression in Competitive Markets," NBER Working Papers 11755, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Susan Athey & Kyle Bagwell & Chris Sanchirico, 1998. "Collusion and Price Rigidity," Working papers 98-23, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  7. Pratt, John W & Wise, David A & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1979. "Price Differences in Almost Competitive Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 189-211, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Severin Borenstein & Jeffrey MacKie-Mason & Janet Netz, 1996. "Exercising Market Power in Proprietary Aftermarkets," Working Papers _002, University of California at Berkeley, Haas School of Business. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Kenneth S. Corts, 1998. "Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Oligopoly: All-Out Competition and Strategic Commitment," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 306-323, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Joseph Farrell & Carl Shapiro, 1988. "Dynamic Competition with Switching Costs," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(1), pages 123-137, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Paul Klemperer, 1987. "The Competitiveness of Markets with Switching Costs," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(1), pages 138-150, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Rajiv Lal & Carmen Matutes, 1989. "Price Competition in Multimarket Duopolies," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 20(4), pages 516-537, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Lazear, Edward P, 1995. "Bait and Switch," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(4), pages 813-30, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Glenn Ellison & Sara Fisher Ellison, 2004. "Search, Obfuscation, and Price Elasticities on the Internet," NBER Working Papers 10570, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Klemperer, Paul, 1987. "Markets with Consumer Switching Costs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 102(2), pages 375-94, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Thisse, J.-F. & Vives, X., 1987. "On the strategic choice of spatial price policy," CORE Discussion Papers 1987008, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    Other versions:
  17. Holmes, Thomas J, 1989. "The Effects of Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Oligopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 244-50, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Lal, Rajiv & Matutes, Carmen, 1994. "Retail Pricing and Advertising Strategies," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(3), pages 345-70, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Diamond, Peter A., 1971. "A model of price adjustment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 156-168, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Rochet, Jean-Charles & Stole, Lars A, 2002. "Nonlinear Pricing with Random Participation," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 69(1), pages 277-311, January.
  21. Farrell, Joseph & Klemperer, Paul, 2006. "Coordination and Lock-In: Competition with Switching Costs and Network Effects," CEPR Discussion Papers 5798, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  22. Armstrong, Mark & Vickers, John, 2001. "Competitive Price Discrimination," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(4), pages 579-605, Winter.
  23. repec:bep:eapcon:v:3:y:2004:i:1:p:1210-1210 is not listed on IDEAS
Full references

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.)

  1. Armstrong, Mark & Chen, Yongmin, 2007. "Inattentive Consumers and Product Quality," MPRA Paper 4797, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Glenn Ellison & Sara Fisher Ellison, 2006. "Internet Retail Demand: Taxes, Geography, and Online-Offline Competition," NBER Working Papers 12242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Sendhil Mullainathan & Joshua Schwartzstein & Andrei Shleifer, 2006. "Coarse Thinking and Persuasion," NBER Working Papers 12720, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Glenn Ellison & Sara Fisher Ellison, 2004. "Search, Obfuscation, and Price Elasticities on the Internet," NBER Working Papers 10570, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Dmitry Shapiro & Xianwen Shi, 2008. "Market Segmentation: The Role of Opaque Travel Agencies," Working Papers tecipa-310, University of Toronto, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2005. "Shrouded Attributes, Consumer Myopia, and Information Suppression in Competitive Markets," NBER Working Papers 11755, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Young Han Lee & Ulrike Malmendier, 2007. "The Bidder's Curse," NBER Working Papers 13699, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Simbanegavi, Witness, 2008. "Loss leader or low margin leader? Advertising and the degree of product differentiation," MPRA Paper 9694, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  9. Sumit Agarwal & John C. Driscoll & Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2007. "The Age of Reason: Financial Decisions Over the Lifecycle," NBER Working Papers 13191, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. David P. Myatt & Justin P. Johnson, 2005. "Multiproduct Cournot Oligopoly," Economics Series Working Papers 145, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Dessi, Roberta, 2009. "Contractual Execution and Strategic Incompleteness," IDEI Working Papers 465, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
  12. Gil, Ricard & Hartmann, Wesley R., 2008. "Why Does Popcorn Cost So Much at the Movies? An Empirical Analysis of Metering Price Discrimination," Research Papers 1983, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business. [Downloadable!]
  13. Patrick Legros, 2005. "Art and the Internet: Blessing the Curse?," Levine's Bibliography 666156000000000502, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Mark Armstrong, 2005. "Recent Developments in the Economics of Price Discrimination," Industrial Organization 0511004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? RePEc also has a blog.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-16.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.