Online personalised pricing is a form of price discrimination that involves charging different prices to different consumers, often based on a consumer’s personal data. Policymakers are currently discussing ways to protect consumers from potential adverse effects of personalised pricing. One...

This report uses a standard gravity setup to analyse the determinants of e-commerce, using data on online credit card payments by private Spanish customers of the multinational bank BBVA. The results show that the gravity model applies well to credit card payments, explaining up to 95% of the...

This paper aims to complement the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Consumer Protection in E-Commerce by elaborating on its key principles in the context of online advertising and offering practical guidance on how to apply these principles. For these purposes, the guide provides a number of...

Building on the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Consumer Protection in E-Commerce, this paper aims to provide practical guidance to businesses on online consumer ratings and reviews. The document focuses on four issue areas: (i) fake ratings and reviews; (ii) incentivised ratings and...

This paper takes stock of recent developments related to online consumer ratings and reviews and their effects on consumer behaviour. It provides an overview of key consumer benefits and risks associated with user-generated feedback, and identifies consumer policy challenges, including...

Problems in e-commerce can lead to significant consumer harm (detriment), for example, when consumers have to pay more for a product than they reasonably expected (e.g. due to hidden costs); suffer from unfair contract terms; or receive products that do not conform to their reasonable...

The Internet of Things represents the next step in convergence between ICTs and the economy on an unprecedented scale, with estimates indicating that 25 billion devices will be connected by 2020. Network connectivity, widespread sensor placement and sophisticated data analytics enable...

Accelerated technological change and globalisation create new challenges and opportunities for governments, businesses and the general public. The increasing use of online communication over public networks has drawn attention to privacy as a fundamental social value that concerns one and all