IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/gua/wpaper/ec200703.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Habit Formation and Oligopolistic Competition

Author

Listed:
  • Alejandro Tatsuo Moreno

    (Department of Economics and Finance, Universidad de Guanajuato)

Abstract

In this paper I introduce competition in the habit formation literature by extending the idea of habit formation to the characteristics of the products. I model a two-period game in which two rms can enter a market and compete with each other, and individuals’ favorite characteristics in the second period are the characteristics of the product they consumed in the rst period. I nd that if two rms enter the market, they do it sequentially. That is, one rm enters in the rst period and attracts individuals’ preferences to the characteristics of its product, while the other rm enters in the second period and competes for the individuals that have grown to prefer the characteristics of the original product. However, the second rm’s product is similar to the original one, but not exactly the same. The model also applies to habit formation for different markets with characteristics in common. For example, sweetness is a common characteristic of sodas and ice-cream, and consumption of a product in one market affects the preferences for products in the other market. I nd that new rms produce products with similar characteristics not only to a product that has entered the same market, but to products that have entered other markets with characteristics in common. I apply my model to durable goods and nd a new explanation for fashion: rms can take advantage of habit formation by showing their products in the media to generate demand for new durable goods.

Suggested Citation

  • Alejandro Tatsuo Moreno, 2007. "Habit Formation and Oligopolistic Competition," Department of Economics and Finance Working Papers EC200703, Universidad de Guanajuato, Department of Economics and Finance, revised May 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:gua:wpaper:ec200703
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://economia.ugto.org/WorkingPapers/EC200703.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2008
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cremer, Helmuth & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1994. "Commodity Taxation in a Differentiated Oligopoly," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 35(3), pages 613-633, August.
    2. Mussa, Michael & Rosen, Sherwin, 1978. "Monopoly and product quality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 301-317, August.
    3. Pesendorfer, Wolfgang, 1995. "Design Innovation and Fashion Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(4), pages 771-792, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Lutz, Stefan, 1998. "Can taxing foreign competition harm the domestic industry?," ZEI Working Papers B 15-1998, University of Bonn, ZEI - Center for European Integration Studies.
    2. Stefan Buehler & Daniel Halbheer, 2011. "Selling when Brand Image Matters," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 167(1), pages 102-118, March.
    3. Lola Esteban & José M. Hernández & José Luis Moraga‐González, 2006. "Customer Directed Advertising and Product Quality," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 943-968, December.
    4. Friedrichsen, Jana, 2013. "Image concerns and the provision of quality," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior SP II 2013-211, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    5. L. Lambertini & R. Orsini, 1998. "Vertical Differentiation With A Positional Good," Working Papers 306, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    6. Drew Fudenberg & Jean Tirole, 1998. "Upgrades, Tradeins, and Buybacks," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 235-258, Summer.
    7. D’Annunzio, Anna & Russo, Antonio, 2024. "Platform Transaction Fees and Freemium Pricing," TSE Working Papers 24-1569, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    8. Lutz, Stefan H., 2002. "The Effects of Quotas on Vertical Intra-Industry Trade," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-61, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Lucie Bottega & Jenny De Freitas, 2009. "Public, Private and Nonprofit Regulation for Environmental Quality," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 105-123, March.
    10. Andrea Mantovani & Ornella Tarola & Cecilia Vergari, 2014. "Hedonic quality, social norms, and environmental campaigns," Working Papers 2014/36, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    11. Werner Smolny, 2003. "Determinants of innovation behaviour and investment estimates for west-german manufacturing firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(5), pages 449-463.
    12. Ibrahima Barry & Olivier Bonroy & Paolo G. Garella, 2017. "Eco-labelling by a for-profit certifier: Countervailing power and its consequences," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1037-1062, November.
    13. Friedrichsen, Jana, 2018. "Signals Sell: Product Lines when Consumers Differ Both in Taste for Quality and Image Concern," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 70, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    14. S. Baranzoni & P. Bianchi & L. Lambertini, 2000. "Multiproduct Firms, Product Differentiation, and Market Structure," Working Papers 368, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    15. Moraga-Gonzalez, Jose Luis & Viaene, Jean-Marie, 2005. "Trade policy and quality leadership in transition economies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 359-385, February.
    16. Brice ARNAUD, 2014. "Extended Producer Responsibility and Green Marketing: an Application to Packaging," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2014-04, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    17. Cremer, Helmuth & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1999. "On the taxation of polluting products in a differentiated industry," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 575-594, March.
    18. Boffa, Federico & Fedele, Alessandro & Iozzi, Alberto, 2023. "Congestion and incentives in the age of driverless fleets," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    19. G. Ecchia & L. Lambertini, 1997. "Full vs Partial Market Coverage with Minimum Quality Standards," Working Papers 285, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    20. Jofre-Bonet, Mireia, 2000. "Health care: private and/or public provision," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 469-489, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:gua:wpaper:ec200703. 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: Luis Sanchez Mier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eeugtmx.html .

    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.