APPROXIMATING PURCHASE PROPENSITIES AND RESERVATION PRICES FROM BROAD CONSUMER TRACKING

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Shiller, Benjmian Reed
• 署名单位: Brandeis University
• 刊物名称: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0020-6598
• DOI: 10.1111/iere.12442
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 847-870
• 关键词: choice; DISCRIMINATION; BEHAVIOR; returns

摘要

A consumer's web-browsing history, now readily available, may be much more useful than demographics for both targeting advertisements and personalizing prices. Using a method that combines economic modeling and machine learning methods, I find a striking difference. Personalizing prices based on web-browsing histories increases profits by 12.99%. Using demographics alone to personalize prices raises profits by only 0.25%, suggesting the percent profit gain from personalized pricing has increased 50-fold. I then investigate whether regulations intended to prevent price gouging increase aggregate consumer surplus. Two feasible regulations considered offer at best modest improvements.