IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/gamebe/v122y2020icp55-82.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competition with an information clearinghouse and asymmetric firms: Why more than two firms compete (or not) for shoppers

Author

Listed:
  • Arnold, Michael
  • Zhang, Lan

Abstract

We characterize equilibria of a market in which firms with asymmetric loyal customer bases can pay a fixed cost to advertise prices through an information clearinghouse to compete for shoppers. We find that the magnitude of the advertising cost and differences in the sizes of the firms' loyal market shares are critical in determining which firms compete for shoppers in equilibrium. If the advertising cost is sufficiently low, then only the two firms with the smallest loyal market shares advertise and compete for shoppers. However, in contrast to earlier literature, more than two firms compete for shoppers if the advertising cost is sufficiently large and the difference in loyal market shares is sufficiently small. In addition, the advertising probability decreases in the size of the firm's loyal customer base, but larger firms price more competitively when they do advertise.

Suggested Citation

  • Arnold, Michael & Zhang, Lan, 2020. "Competition with an information clearinghouse and asymmetric firms: Why more than two firms compete (or not) for shoppers," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 55-82.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:122:y:2020:i:c:p:55-82
    DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2020.04.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899825620300488
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.geb.2020.04.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven Salop & Joseph Stiglitz, 1977. "Bargains and Ripoffs: A Model of Monopolistically Competitive Price Dispersion," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 44(3), pages 493-510.
    2. Stigler, George J., 2011. "Economics of Information," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 35-49.
    3. Varian, Hal R, 1980. "A Model of Sales," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(4), pages 651-659, September.
    4. Matthew Lewis, 2008. "Price Dispersion And Competition With Differentiated Sellers," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 654-678, September.
    5. Anderson, Simon & Baik, Alicia & Larson, Nathan, 2015. "Personalized pricing and advertising: An asymmetric equilibrium analysis," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 53-73.
    6. Saul Lach, 2002. "Existence And Persistence Of Price Dispersion: An Empirical Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 433-444, August.
    7. Narasimhan, Chakravarthi, 1988. "Competitive Promotional Strategies," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(4), pages 427-449, October.
    8. Baye, Michael R. & Kovenock, Dan & de Vries, Casper G., 1992. "It takes two to tango: Equilibria in a model of sales," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 493-510, October.
    9. Villas-Boas, J Miguel, 1995. "Models of Competitive Price Promotions: Some Empirical Evidence from the Coffee and Saltine Crackers Markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 85-107, Spring.
    10. Kocas, Cenk & Kiyak, Tunga, 2006. "Addendum to "Theory and evidence on pricing by asymmetric oligopolies" [Int. J. Ind. Organ. 24 (2006) 83-105]," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 1077-1077, September.
    11. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan & Patrick Scholten, 2004. "Price Dispersion In The Small And In The Large: Evidence From An Internet Price Comparison Site," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 463-496, December.
    12. Michael Arnold & Chenguang Li & Christine Saliba & Lan Zhang, 2011. "Asymmetric Market Shares, Advertising And Pricing: Equilibrium With An Information Gatekeeper," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 63-84, March.
    13. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan & Patrick Scholten, 2006. "Information, Search, and Price Dispersion," Working Papers 2006-11, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    14. Kocas, Cenk & Kiyak, Tunga, 2006. "Theory and evidence on pricing by asymmetric oligopolies," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 83-105, January.
    15. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan, 2001. "Information Gatekeepers on the Internet and the Competitiveness of Homogeneous Product Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 454-474, June.
    16. repec:bla:jemstr:v:4:y:1995:i:1:p:85-107:a is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Baye, Michael R. & Morgan, John, 2002. "Information gatekeepers and price discrimination on the internet," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 47-51, June.
    18. Brynjolfsson, Erik & Dick, Astrid Andrea & Smith, Michael D., 2004. "Search and Product Differentiation at an Internet Shopbot," Working papers 4441-03, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    19. Arnold, Michael A. & Zhang, Lan, 2014. "The unique equilibrium in a model of sales with costly advertising," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 457-460.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael Arnold & Eric Schmidbauer & Lan Zhang, 2022. "Uniform and targeted informative advertising with asymmetric customer loyalty," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 90-114, February.
    2. Johannes Johnen & David Ronayne, 2021. "The only Dance in Town: Unique Equilibrium in a Generalized Model of Price Competition," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 595-614, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Arnold & Chenguang Li & Christine Saliba & Lan Zhang, 2011. "Asymmetric Market Shares, Advertising And Pricing: Equilibrium With An Information Gatekeeper," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 63-84, March.
    2. Sandro Shelegia & Chris M. Wilson, 2016. "A Generalized Model of Sales," Working Papers 934, Barcelona School of Economics.
    3. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan & Patrick Scholten, 2004. "Temporal Price Dispersion: Evidence from an Online Consumer Electronics Market," Working Papers 2004-04, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    4. Backus, Matthew R. & Podwol, Joseph Uri & Schneider, Henry S., 2014. "Search costs and equilibrium price dispersion in auction markets," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 173-192.
    5. David Ronayne, 2021. "Price Comparison Websites," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1081-1110, August.
    6. Shelegia, Sandro & Wilson, Chris M., 2022. "Costly participation and default allocations in all-pay contests," MPRA Paper 115027, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Eaton B. Curtis & MacDonald Ian A. & Meriluoto Laura, 2010. "Existence Advertising, Price Competition and Asymmetric Market Structure," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-29, August.
    8. Sandro Shelegia & Chris M. Wilson, 2021. "A Generalized Model of Advertised Sales," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 195-223, February.
    9. Sinitsyn, Maxim, 2009. "Price dispersion in duopolies with heterogeneous consumers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 197-205, March.
    10. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan & Patrick Scholten, 2006. "Persistent Price Dispersion in Online Markets," Chapters, in: Dennis W. Jansen (ed.), The New Economy and Beyond, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Bernd Jost, 2012. "Price Dispersion, Search Costs and Spatial Competition: Evidence from the Austrian Retail Gasoline Market," NEURUS papers neurusp166, NEURUS - Network of European and US Regional and Urban Studies.
    12. Anderson, Simon & Baik, Alicia & Larson, Nathan, 2015. "Personalized pricing and advertising: An asymmetric equilibrium analysis," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 53-73.
    13. Michael R. Baye & J. Rupert J. Gatti & Paul Kattuman & John Morgan, 2009. "Clicks, Discontinuities, and Firm Demand Online," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 935-975, December.
    14. Anania, Giovanni & Nisticò, Rosanna, 2014. "Price dispersion and seller heterogeneity in retail food markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 190-201.
    15. Florian Morath & Johannes Münster, 2018. "Online Shopping and Platform Design with Ex Ante Registration Requirements," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 360-380, January.
    16. Il-Horn Hann & Kai-Lung Hui & Sang-Yong Tom Lee & Ivan P.L. Png, 2005. "Sales and Promotions: A More General Model," Industrial Organization 0508014, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Mark Armstrong & John Vickers, 2022. "Patterns of Competitive Interaction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(1), pages 153-191, January.
    18. Donna, Javier D. & Schenone, Pablo & Veramendi, Gregory F., 2020. "Networks, frictions, and price dispersion," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 406-431.
    19. Michael Arnold & Eric Schmidbauer & Lan Zhang, 2022. "Uniform and targeted informative advertising with asymmetric customer loyalty," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 90-114, February.
    20. Ya-Ling Chiu & Jiangze Du & Jying-Nan Wang, 2022. "The Effects of Price Dispersion on Sales in the Automobile Industry: A Dynamic Panel Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:122:y:2020:i:c:p:55-82. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.