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Strategic Obfuscation and Retail Pricing

Author

Listed:
  • Zohra Bouamra

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Timothy Richards
  • Gordon Klein
  • Céline Bonnet

    (GREMAQ - Groupe de recherche en économie mathématique et quantitative - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Consumer-product manufacturers—and retailers that sell their products—often sell slightly differentiated items for reasons other than appealing to heterogeneous tastes—different sizes of a popular brand, or different flavors in a common product line for instance. We argue that this practice is a form of strategic obfuscation, which is intended to make price-comparison more difficult, and thereby raise margins on non-comparable products. We test our hypothesis with the use of examples from consumer-packaged good categories in German and French retail scanner data. We find that—after controlling for other explanations for how margins can vary with package size and type—we cannot rule out strategic obfuscation as a feature of our retail sales data.

Suggested Citation

  • Zohra Bouamra & Timothy Richards & Gordon Klein & Céline Bonnet & Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache, 2020. "Strategic Obfuscation and Retail Pricing," Post-Print hal-02902690, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02902690
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-019-09744-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Edona Reshidi, 2022. "Vertical Bargaining and Obfuscation," Staff Working Papers 22-13, Bank of Canada.
    2. Stephen Martin, 2018. "Behavioral antitrust," Chapters, in: Victor J. Tremblay & Elizabeth Schroeder & Carol Horton Tremblay (ed.), Handbook of Behavioral Industrial Organization, chapter 15, pages 404-454, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. In Kyung Kim, 2024. "Consumers' preference for downsizing over package price increases," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 25-52, January.
    4. Helliar, C.V. & Lowies, B. & Suryawathy, I.G.A. & Whait, R. & Lushington, K., 2022. "The genre of banking financial product information: The characters, the setting, the plot and the story," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(5).
    5. Richards, Timothy J. & Paudel, Ujjwol, 2024. "Minimum Wages and Pass-Through," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343648, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. repec:ags:aaea22:343648 is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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