false advertising by a firm in duopolistic competition where consumers can be distinguished according to whether or not they … form rational beliefs about the trustworthiness of advertising claims. We compare private and public law enforcement in the … form of the demand for injunctions against false advertising. From a welfare perspective, we show that it can be optimal …

engage in deceptive advertising, potentially fooling a buyer into thinking the product is better than it is. Although … deceptive advertising might seem to harm the buyer, we show that he could be better off when the low-quality seller can engage … in deceptive advertising than not. We characterize the optimal deterrence rule that a regulatory agency seeking to punish …

This paper shows how a firm can use non-targeted advertising to exploit consumers' desire for social status. A … monopolist sells multiple varieties of a good to consumers who each care about what others believe about his wealth. Advertising …

This paper shows how a firm can use non-targeted advertising to exploit consumers' desire for social status. A … monopolist sells multiple varieties of a good to consumers who each care about what others believe about his wealth. Advertising …

The paper formalizes the intuition that brands are consumed for image reasons and that advertising creates a brand …'s image. The key idea is that advertising informs the public of brand names and creates the possibility of conspicuous … consumption by rendering brands a signalling device. In a price competition framework, we show that advertising increases …

There is widespread evidence that some firms use false advertising to overstate the value of their products. We … advertising actively influences rational buyers, and analyze the effects of policy under different welfare objectives. We … establish precise conditions where policy optimally permits a positive level of false advertising, and show how these conditions …