Disclosure and Pricing of Attributes
39 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2019 Last revised: 28 Oct 2020
There are 2 versions of this paper
Date Written: July 08, 2020
Abstract
A monopolist sells an object characterized by multiple attributes. A buyer can be one of many types, differing in their willingness to pay for each attribute. The seller can provide arbitrary attribute information in the form of a statistical experiment. To screen different types, the seller offers a menu of options that specify information prices, experiments, and object prices.
I characterize revenue-maximizing menus. All experiments belong to a class of linear disclosure policies. An optimal menu may be nondiscriminatory and qualitatively depends on the structure of buyer heterogeneity. The analysis informs on the benefits of partial disclosure in pricing settings.
Keywords: advertising, attributes, call options, demand transformation, information design, intermediaries, linear disclosure, mechanism design, multidimensional screening, persuasion
JEL Classification: D11, D42, D82, D83, L15
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation