Price Discrimination with Consumer Misperception
Forthcoming, Applied Economics Letters
Harvard Law School John M. Olin Center Discussion Paper No. 1033
12 Pages Posted: 1 Jul 2020
Date Written: June 6, 2020
Abstract
The rise of big data and sophisticated, machine learning algorithms is increasing the prevalence of price discrimination and even personalized pricing. In traditional models, where consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) is a function of preferences (and budget constraints), price discrimination is often celebrated for increasing efficiency albeit while reducing consumer surplus. This favorable view of price discrimination should be reevaluated when WTP is a function of both preferences and misperceptions. With demand-inflating misperceptions, price discrimination is even more harmful to consumers and might reduce efficiency. These results are derived using a simple, linear demand model with different levels of price discrimination (or segmentation). In the many consumer markets where misperception is common, more careful scrutiny of price discrimination is warranted.
Keywords: Price discrimination, segmentation, consumer misperceptions, behavioral economics, big data
JEL Classification: L11, L12, L40, L4
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