Match Quality, Search, and the Internet Market for Used Books

Résumé

The Internet is a nearly perfect market because information is instantaneous and buyers can compare the offerings of sellers worldwide. The result is fierce price competition, dwindling product differentiation, and vanishing brand loyalty. Robert Kuttner, Business Week, May 11, 1998. The explosive growth of the Internet promises a new age of perfectly competitive markets. With perfect information about prices and products at their fingertips, consumers can quickly and easily find the best deals. In this brave new world, retailers’ profit margins will be competed away, as they are all forced to price at cost. The Economist, November 20, 1999

Référence

Glenn Ellison et Sara Fisher Ellison, « Match Quality, Search, and the Internet Market for Used Books », octobre 2013.