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on Marketing |
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Issue of 2013‒03‒02
three papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This report is part of a series of papers in the follow-up work to the 2008 Seoul Ministerial Declaration for the Future of the Internet Economy. It shows that over the past five years, despite the financial crisis, business-to-consumer e-commerce has grown steadily across the OECD and beyond, spurred by increased Internet and broadband penetration, competition and innovation, which have in turn led to consumer access to a wider range of products at lower prices. The spread of mobile devices, easy-to-use payment mechanisms, as well as participative web tools such as price and product comparisons and consumer ratings and reviews has further provided consumers with a more convenient e-commerce experience. Trust in e-commerce, however, remains challenged by a number of problems requiring further attention. These include complex information disclosures, legislative gaps, fraudulent and misleading practices and privacy threats as well as inadequate redress mechanisms. |
| Date: | 2013–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaab:216-en&r=mkt |
| By: | Emily Blanchard; Tatyana Chesnokova; Gerald Willmann |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of pooled-producer, e.g. private label, trade intermediation in shaping the range and diversity of exports. Direct sales maintain a firm's unique product characteristics (`brand equity'), whereas trade through an intermediary can take two forms — either a wholesaling arrangement that (also) maintains the exporter's unique brand but imposes a higher marginal cost (via double marginalization), or a `private label' contract under which the firm's product is pooled with other firms' output and re-sold under a new private label brand created by the intermediary. This paper focuses on the latter, and shows that the availability of the private label option results in greater total export volumes and lower average prices for consumers, but fewer independent varieties available in equilibrium. Welfare implications are mixed: consumers trade variety for volume, firms face greater competition from the new pooled-products, and intermediaries capture much of the gains from trade |
| Keywords: | Private Labels, Export Mode, Intermediaries, Heterogeneous Firms, International Retailers |
| JEL: | F13 F16 D72 E60 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1829&r=mkt |
| By: | Bonroy, O.; Constantatos, C. |
| Abstract: | Are labels good or bad for consumers and firms? In this essay we analyze the label's nature as information revealing mechanism and explore the theoretical literature on labeling with respect to the following issues: i) the effects of labels on market structure, ii) the distortions due to the certification process, and iii) the level at which different agencies wish the label to be set at. For each issue, we highlight the key economic mechanisms, their impact on market equilibrium and how they affect all actors' payoffs. The latter gives rise to the political economy of labels, i.e., lobbying activities in favor of, or resisting the imposition of labels, and/or trying to infl uence its level. We conclude by identifying issues for further research. |
| Keywords: | LABEL;IMPERFECT CONSUMER INFORMATION;VERTICAL DIFFERENTIATION |
| JEL: | L15 L50 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gbl:wpaper:2013-01&r=mkt |