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Customer Directed Advertising and Product Quality

Author

Listed:
  • Lola Esteban
  • Jose M. Hernandez

    (Universidad de Zaragoza)

  • Jose Luis Moraga-Gonzalez

    (Groningen University)

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between three key elements of the marketing mix, namely, price, product, and promotion, in a model where a seller employs informative advertising to launch a new product. We propose a fairly general advertising technology for the study of three promotional strategies—mass, imperfectly targeted, and customer directed advertising (CDA). We find that both the private and the social incentives to use distinct advertising strategies are aligned, and that sales are likely to be promoted through CDA. Compared to mass advertising, with CDA the social planner reduces quantity and downgrades quality whereas the seller sometimes upgrades it. Our model of targeting with endogenous product quality provides some new insights into the way the transition from mass to specialized advertising can affect market outcomes. Quality distortions imply that (i) even if CDA increases the market price, the degree of market power need not increase and (ii) CDA may yield a welfare loss even if it leads to a lower market price. This discussion paper has resulted in a publication in the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy , 2006, 15(4), 943-68.

Suggested Citation

  • Lola Esteban & Jose M. Hernandez & Jose Luis Moraga-Gonzalez, 2001. "Customer Directed Advertising and Product Quality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 01-099/1, Tinbergen Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20010099
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rosa Brana Esteves & Joana Resende, 2017. "Personalized Pricing with Targeted Advertising: Who are the Winners?," NIPE Working Papers 02/2017, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    2. Galeotti, Andrea & Moraga-González, José Luis, 2008. "Segmentation, advertising and prices," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 1106-1119, September.
    3. Malcolm Brady, 2022. "Asymmetric Horizontal Differentiation under Advertising in a Cournot Duopoly," Games, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, May.
    4. Nick Vikander, 2011. "Targeted Advertising and Social Status," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-016/1, Tinbergen Institute.
    5. Lola Esteban & José Hernández, 2012. "Specialized advertising media and product market competition," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 45-74, May.
    6. Lola Esteban & Jose M. Hernandez, 2007. "Strategic Targeted Advertising and Market Fragmentation," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 12(10), pages 1-12.
    7. Animesh Animesh & Vandana Ramachandran & Siva Viswanathan, 2010. "Research Note ---Quality Uncertainty and the Performance of Online Sponsored Search Markets: An Empirical Investigation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 190-201, March.
    8. Immordino Giovanni, 2009. "Advertising and Cost Reduction," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, April.
    9. Lola Esteban & José M. Hernández, 2016. "Advertising Media Planning, Optimal Pricing, and Welfare," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 880-910, December.
    10. Garcia Pires Armando J., 2020. "Content Provision in the Media Market with Single-Homing and Multi-Homing Consumers," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 43-83, March.
    11. Lola Esteban & José Hernández, 2014. "Endogenous direct advertising and price competition," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 225-251, July.
    12. Lola Esteban & José Hernández, 2011. "Specialized advertising and price competition in vertically differentiated markets," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 255-282, June.
    13. Tsakas, Nikolas, 2024. "Optimal influence under observational learning," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 41-51.
    14. Esteves, Rosa-Branca & Resende, Joana, 2019. "Personalized pricing and advertising: Who are the winners?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 239-282.
    15. Li, Changying & Li, Youping & Zhang, Jianhu, 2023. "Targeted advertising with R&D rivalry," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 24-34.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    customer directed advertising; mass advertising; monopoly; quality; targeted advertising;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • M37 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Advertising

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