This chapter proposes an analysis of the role of advertising in the transmission of information in markets. It also describes how the economic analysis of informative advertising provides a satisfactory account of advertising practices and discusses the extent to which resorting to alternative...

We incorporate a search-theoretic model of imperfect competition into a standard model of asymmetric information with unrestricted contracts. We characterize the unique equilibrium, and use our characterization to explore the interaction between adverse selection, screening, and imperfect...

We incorporate a search-theoretic model of imperfect competition into an otherwise standard model of asymmetric information with unrestricted contracts. We develop a methodology that allows for a sharp analytical characterization of the unique equilibrium and then use this characterization to...

The exchange of information among competitors has been debated ever since the beginnings of Antitrust Law, but manages to stay a 'hot topic' - from Eddy's 'New Competition' in 1912 to the B2B platform discussions in the early 2000s and the recent guidance on information exchange in the European...

This paper examines one of the most important marketing strategies by software producers on the Internet. That is whether to offer free samples and if so, whether to list the samples on shareware repositories. I show that firms with higher value products have a greater incentive to offer free...

I study optimal information provision by a search goods seller. While the seller controls a consumer's pre-search information, which decides whether she will engage in costly search for the product, he cannot control her post-search information because the consumer would inevitably learn the...

We propose a framework for analyzing transformations of demand. Such transformations frequently stem from changes in the dispersion of consumers` valuations, which lead to rotations of the demand curve. In a wide variety of settings, profits are a U-shaped function of dispersion. A high level of...

This paper examines a firm's incentive to supply information through advertising when consumers can choose between buying immediately and searching for additional information. The presence of consumer search, which may lower sales, creates incentives for the firm to deter search. We show that...

The advancements in targeting technology have allowed firms to engage in more precise targeting based on several distinct aspects of customer preferences. Exposed to more targeted ads, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of being targeted and respond accordingly. In this paper, we provide...

We propose a framework for analyzing transformations of demand. Such transformations frequently stem from changes in the dispersion of consumers` valuations, which lead to rotations of the demand curve. In a wide variety of settings, profits are a U-shaped function of dispersion. A high level of...