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The Economics of Consumer Information Acquisition

Authors: Wilde, Louis L;

The Economics of Consumer Information Acquisition

Abstract

Traditionally economists and consumer researchers have studied consumer behavior, especially under imperfect information, without paying a great deal of attention to one another. This is likely due to differences both in purpose and technique. Consumer researchers are generally concerned with individual choice, while economists focus on market outcomes. Even when economists propose detailed models of individual behavior, they tend to use these models to deduce propositions concerning overall market structure. Furthermore, consumer researchers draw data from both surveys and experiments, sources which economists distrust. This paper surveys recent theoretical work on consumer information acquisition, primarily by economists, arguing that consumer researchers and economists have much to learn from each other. There are two reasons for concentrating on theory. First, comprehensive surveys by James Bettman (1977) and Joseph Newman (1977) deal with the empirical literature. Second, and significantly, accompanying the recent attention afforded consumer information acquisition This paper surveys recent theoretical work by economists on consumer information aquisition. Both models of individual behavior and models of market equilibrium are discussed. These models are used to illustrate the point that there are significant advantages to greater collaboration between economists and consumer researchers.

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    popularity
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    Top 10%
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
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    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
38
Top 10%
Top 10%
Average
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