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Preference Externalities: An Empirical Study of Who Benefits Whom in Differentiated Product Markets

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Author Info
Joel Waldfogel

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Abstract

Theory predicts that in markets with increasing returns, the number of differentiated products and resulting consumer satisfaction grow in market size. We document this phenomenon across 246 US radio markets. By a mechanism that we term 'preference externalities', an increase in the size of the market brings forth additional products valued by others with similar tastes. But who benefits whom? We examine the patterns of and mechanisms for preference externalities between black and white and between Hispanic and non-Hispanic radio listeners, and among listeners of different age groups. The patterns are striking: while preference externalities are large and positive within groups, they are small and possibly negative across groups. For example, while black-targeted station entry and the black listening share increase in black population, they are unaffected (or possibly reduced) by the size of the white population. Consequently, small groups receive less variety from the market. Forces that increase the size of the market, such as emerging satellite and Internet technologies, may increase the satisfaction of individuals whose preferences do not match their fellow local residents'.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 7391.

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Date of creation: Oct 1999
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7391

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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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. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Spence, Michael, 1976. "Product Selection, Fixed Costs, and Monopolistic Competition," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2), pages 217-35, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Spence, Michael, 1976. "Product Differentiation and Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(2), pages 407-14, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Steven T. Berry & Joel Waldfogel, 1999. "Free Entry and Social Inefficiency in Radio Broadcasting," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(3), pages 397-420, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Spence, A Michael & Owen, Bruce, 1977. "Television Programming, Monopolistic Competition, and Welfare," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 103-26, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Borenstein, Severin, 1988. "On the Efficiency of Competitive Markets for Operating Licenses," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 103(2), pages 357-85, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Krugman, Paul, 1980. "Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(5), pages 950-59, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Bresnahan, Timothy F & Reiss, Peter C, 1990. "Entry in Monopoly Markets," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(4), pages 531-53, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Bresnahan, Timothy F & Reiss, Peter C, 1991. "Entry and Competition in Concentrated Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(5), pages 977-1009, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Steven T. Berry & Joel Waldfogel, 1999. "Mergers, Station Entry, and Programming Variety in Radio Broadcasting," NBER Working Papers 7080, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Guido De Blasio, 2005. "Production Or Consumption? Disentangling The Skill-Agglomeration Connection," ERSA conference papers ersa05p648, European Regional Science Association. [Downloadable!]
  2. Steven T. Berry & Philip A. Haile, 2009. "Nonparametric Identification of Multinomial Choice Demand Models with Heterogeneous Consumers," NBER Working Papers 15276, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Donald Haurin & Stuart Rosenthal, 2007. "Language, Agglomeration, and Hispanic Homeownership," Working Papers 07-04, Ohio State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Joel Waldfogel, 2007. "Who Benefits Whom in the Neighborhood? Demographics and Retail Product Geography," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Agglomeration National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  5. Todd Sinai & Joel Waldfogel, 2003. "Geography and the Internet: Is the Internet a Substitute or a Complement for Cities?," NBER Working Papers 10028, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser & Jacob L. Vigdor, 2007. "When Are Ghettos Bad? Lessons from Immigrant Segregation in the United States," NBER Working Papers 13082, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Joseph Gyourko & Christopher Mayer & Todd Sinai, 2006. "Superstar Cities," NBER Working Papers 12355, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Guido De Blasio, 2006. "Does the Internet Kill the Distance? Evidence From Navigation, E-Commerce, and E-Banking," ERSA conference papers ersa06p440, European Regional Science Association. [Downloadable!]
  9. Lisa M. George & Joel Waldfogel, 2006. "The New York Times and the Market for Local Newspapers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 435-447, March. [Downloadable!]
  10. Felix Oberholzer-Gee & Joel Waldfogel, 2006. "Media Markets and Localism: Does Local News en Español Boost Hispanic Voter Turnout?," NBER Working Papers 12317, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Heski Bar-Isaac & Guillermo Caruana & Vicente Cunat, 2006. "Diversity and demand externalities: How cheap information can reduce welfare," Working Papers 06-08, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  12. Simon Loertscher & Gerd Muehlheusser, 2008. "Dynamic Location Games," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1042, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
  13. Alberto Dalmazzo & Guido De Blasio, 2007. "Skill-Biased Agglomeration Effects and Amenities: Theory with an Application to Italian Cities," Department of Economics University of Siena 503, Department of Economics, University of Siena. [Downloadable!]
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