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Commentary on “Pricing Prototypical Products”

Author

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  • Shichang Li

    (School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People’s Republic of China)

  • Jingchuan Pu

    (Warrington College of Business, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611)

  • Quan Zheng

    (International Institute of Finance, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People’s Republic of China)

Abstract

The article by Amaldoss and He [Amaldoss W, He C (2013) Pricing prototypical products. Marketing Sci. 32(5):733–752] investigates how prototypicality changes the competitive behavior of firms in a horizontally differentiated market. Their study extends the spokes model by considering the asymmetry between the prototypical and nonprototypical products in terms of the probabilities of being included in consumers’ consideration sets. Their analyses show that when consumer valuations are low (moderately high), the prototypical product charges a lower (higher) price than a nonprototypical product. However, the asymmetric probabilities are overlooked when characterizing the demand for the prototypical product. With the correct demand function, we show that whether the prototypical product is priced lower depends on consumer valuations as well as the level of prototypicality, and the prototypical product can charge a lower price even when consumer valuations are moderately high. One should use extra caution when characterizing demands in the spokes model with asymmetric probabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Shichang Li & Jingchuan Pu & Quan Zheng, 2025. "Commentary on “Pricing Prototypical Products”," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(3), pages 725-727, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:44:y:2025:i:3:p:725-727
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.2023.0579
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yongmin Chen & Michael H. Riordan, 2007. "Price and Variety in the Spokes Model," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(522), pages 897-921, July.
    2. Wilfred Amaldoss & Chuan He, 2018. "Reference-Dependent Utility, Product Variety, and Price Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(9), pages 4302-4316, September.
    3. Fei Long & Wilfred Amaldoss, 2024. "Self-Preferencing in E-Commerce Marketplaces: The Role of Sponsored Advertising and Private Labels," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(5), pages 925-952, September.
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    Cited by:

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