Selling to Consumers with Endogenous Types

TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2006-021

CentER Discussion Paper No. 2006-74

26 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2006

See all articles by Jan Boone

Jan Boone

Tilburg University - Center for Economic Research (CentER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); TILEC

Joel Shapiro

Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 2006

Abstract

For many goods (such as experience goods or addictive goods), consumers' preferences may change over time. In this paper, we examine a monopolist's optimal pricing schedule when current consumption can affect a consumer's valuation in the future and valuations are unobservable. We assume that consumers are anonymous, i.e. the monopolist can't observe a consumer's past consumption history. For myopic consumers, the optimal consumption schedule is distorted upwards, involving substantial discounts for low valuation types. This pushes low types into higher valuations, from which rents can be extracted. For forward looking consumers, there may be a further upward distortion of consumption due to a reversal of the adverse selection effect; low valuation consumers now have a strong interest in consumption in order to increase their valuations. Firms will find it profitable to educate consumers and encourage forward looking behavior.

Keywords: endogenous types, experience goods, addictive goods, price discrimination

JEL Classification: D42, D82, L12

Suggested Citation

Boone, Jan and Shapiro, Joel David, Selling to Consumers with Endogenous Types (August 2006). TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2006-021, CentER Discussion Paper No. 2006-74, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=925624 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.925624

Jan Boone (Contact Author)

Tilburg University - Center for Economic Research (CentER) ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands
+31 13 466 2399 (Phone)
+31 13 466 3042 (Fax)

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

TILEC ( email )

Warandelaan 2
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

Joel David Shapiro

Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences ( email )

Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27
Barcelona, 08005
Spain
+34 93 542 27 18 (Phone)
+34 93 542 17 46 (Fax)

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