Social learning with differentiated products

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Campbell, Arthur
• 署名单位: Monash University
• 刊物名称: RAND JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0741-6261
• DOI: 10.1111/1756-2171.12268
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 226-248
• 关键词: word-of-mouth; consumers; search; MODEL

摘要

Learning from friends is a key process by which consumers acquire information about available products. This article embeds social learning in a model of firms producing differentiated products. I consider how the structure of social relationships between consumers influences pricing and welfare. In particular, how a variety of characteristics of social networks - distribution of friendships, homophily, clustering, and correlations between an individual's preferences and number of friends - influence these outcomes. I also find conditions under which consumer awareness and the sensitivity of demand to prices are useful measures of the informational efficiency of markets.