Customers' preference for the hedonic benefits (e.g., aesthetics) and utilitarian benefits (e.g., functionality) offered by a product varies depending on the context — buying versus selling, and choice versus willingness-to-pay. However, a customer's preference formation could involve brand...

I study a monopolistic pricing problem in which the consumer performs product research to determine whether or not to purchase a good. The consumer receives a signal of quality via a Brownian motion process with a type-dependent drift. I fully characterize the consumer's optimal strategy; she...