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Monopoly Pricing when Consumers are Antagonized by Unexpected Price Increases: A "Cover Version" of the Heidhues-Koszegi-Rabin Model

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  • Spiegler, Ran

Abstract

This paper reformulates and simplifies a recent model by Heidhues and Koszegi (2005), which in turn is based on a behavioral model due to Koszegi and Rabin (2006). The model analyzes optimal pricing when consumers are loss averse in the sense that an unexpected price hike lowers their willingness to pay. The main message of the Heidhues-Koszegi model, namely that this form of consumer loss aversion leads to rigid price responses to cost fluctuations, carries over. I demonstrate the usefulness of this "cover version" of the Heidhues-Koszegi-Rabin model by obtaining new results: (1) loss aversion lowers expected prices; (2) the firm's incentive to adopt a rigid pricing strategy is stronger when fluctuations are in demand rather than in costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Spiegler, Ran, 2010. "Monopoly Pricing when Consumers are Antagonized by Unexpected Price Increases: A "Cover Version" of the Heidhues-Koszegi-Rabin Model," MPRA Paper 21429, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:21429
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Heiko Karle & Martin Peitz, 2014. "Competition under consumer loss aversion," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 45(1), pages 1-31, March.
    2. Herweg, Fabian, 2010. "Uncertain Demand, Consumer Loss Aversion, and Flat-Rate Tariffs," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 330, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    3. Jong-Hee Hahn & Jinwoo Kim & Sang-Hyun Kim & Jihong Lee, 2018. "Price discrimination with loss averse consumers," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 65(3), pages 681-728, May.
    4. Michael Grubb, 2015. "Behavioral Consumers in Industrial Organization: An Overview," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(3), pages 247-258, November.
    5. Michael D. Grubb, 2015. "Behavioral Consumers in Industrial Organization," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 879, Boston College Department of Economics.
    6. Wenner, Lukas M., 2015. "Expected prices as reference points—Theory and experiments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 60-79.
    7. Benjamin Balzer & Antonio Rosato, 2018. "Expectations-Based Loss Aversion in Common-Value Auctions: Extensive vs. Intensive Risk," Working Paper Series 50, Economics Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.
    8. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2014-065 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Dato, Simon & Grunewald, Andreas & Müller, Daniel & Strack, Philipp, 2017. "Expectation-based loss aversion and strategic interaction," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 681-705.
    10. Leontiou, Anastasia & Ziros, Nicholas, 2024. "“Tacit bundling” among rivals: Limited-availability bargains for loss-averse consumers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    11. Ahrens, Steffen & Pirschel, Inske & Snower, Dennis J., 2017. "A theory of price adjustment under loss aversion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 78-95.
    12. Paha, Johannes, 2019. "Anchoring, Reference Prices, and List Price Collusion," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203625, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Fabian Herweg & Konrad Mierendorff, 2013. "Uncertain Demand, Consumer Loss Aversion, And Flat-Rate Tariffs," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 399-432, April.
    14. Gentry, Matthew & Pesendorfer, Martin, 2021. "Pricing with bargain hunting consumers," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 111591, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Stéphane Dupraz, 2024. "A Kinked‐Demand Theory of Price Rigidity," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 56(2-3), pages 325-363, March.
    16. Mauro Papi, 2014. "Noncompensatory consideration and compensatory choice: an application to Stackelberg competition," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 2(1), pages 53-63, April.
    17. Benkert, Jean-Michel, 2022. "On the equivalence of optimal mechanisms with loss and disappointment aversion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    18. Gentry, Matthew & Pesendorfer, Martin, 2021. "Pricing with bargain hunting consumers," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 549-569.
    19. Antonio Rosato, 2016. "Selling substitute goods to loss-averse consumers: limited availability, bargains, and rip-offs," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 47(3), pages 709-733, August.
    20. Tramontana, Fabio, 2021. "When a boundedly rational monopolist meets consumers with reference dependent preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 30-45.
    21. Willem H. Boshoff & Johannes Paha, 2021. "List Price Collusion," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 393-409, September.
    22. Wenner, Lukas, 2014. "Expected prices as reference points: Theory and experiments," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economics of Change SP II 2014-306, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    23. Ahmad Naimzada & Nicolò Pecora & Fabio Tramontana, 2019. "A cobweb model with elements from prospect theory," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 763-778, April.
    24. Benjamin Balzer & Antonio Rosato, 2021. "Expectations-Based Loss Aversion in Auctions with Interdependent Values: Extensive vs. Intensive Risk," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 1056-1074, February.
    25. Phuong Ho, 2023. "Nonlinear pricing, biased consumers, and regulatory policy," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 138(2), pages 149-164, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    monopoly pricing; loss aversion; price variation antagonism; price rigidity; price stickiness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies

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