The mere fact that consumers are targeted by advertisements can affect their inference about the expected utility of a product. We build a micro-model where multiple firms compete through targeted advertising. Consumers make inferences from targeted advertising about their potential match values...

The multibillion-dollar online advertising industry continues to debate whether to use the CPC (cost per click) or CPA (cost per action) pricing model as an industry standard. This article applies the economic framework of incentive contracts to study how these pricing models can lead to risk...