; this generates a search rule that accounts for learning systematically. In this search environment, a multiproduct seller …

valuations for quality but by image concerns. A typical monopoly outcome is a two-tier product line resembling a "masstige …This paper analyzes optimal product lines when consumers differ both in their taste for quality and in their desire for …" strategy as observed in luxury goods markets. Products can have identical quality and differ only in price and image, thereby …

In a monopoly setting where consumers cannot observe the quality of the product we show that free samples which are of … a lower quality than the marketed digital goods are used together with high prices as signals for a superior quality if … the number of informed consumers is small and if the difference between the high and the low quality is not too small …

to the next period with the hope of learning the unknown quality. We analyze the monopolist's pricing and "waiting …When a durable good of uncertain quality is introduced to the market, some consumers strategically delay their buying … equilibria. We also find two types of separating equi- libria: one where high type signals its quality by choosing a different …

the intensity of network effects, and that a discriminating monopoly may supply large quantities for all consumers than a …

the verifiability of the quality provided and the expert's liability. In this paper, we identify the information … and in contrast to traditional models, the verifiability of the quality provided is only of secondary importance. …

' behavior and firms' incentives to upgrade product quality in markets where information is traditionally limited. I first build … a model of consumer search with firms' endogenous quality decisions. In this model, lower search costs reallocate demand … toward higher-quality producers, raising firms' incentives to upgrade quality, and more so for firms selling ex-ante lower-quality …

image-concerned consumers buy excessive quality instead. Monopoly may therefore yield higher welfare than competition …In this paper, I study markets where consumers are heterogeneous with respect to both their concerns for the quality of … goods and the image associated with them. Consumers with a taste for quality lend a positive image to the product of their …