INFORMATION ACQUISITION AND DIFFUSION IN MARKETS
研究了消费者通过自身搜索和社交网络口碑获取信息时，信息扩散导致的搭便车行为如何影响市场价格和价格离散，发现搜索成本降低时价格离散消失但价格趋近垄断水平，更多社会联系会降低价格。
Abstract Consumers acquire information through their own search efforts or through word‐of‐mouth communication within their social network. Information diffusion leads to free‐riding and less active search. Free‐riding consumers also create important positive externalities, however, as they are more likely to compare prices, imposing competitive pressure on firms. We show how market prices depend on network characteristics and search cost. For example, if search cost becomes small, price dispersion disappears, while prices converge to the monopoly level, with expected prices decreasing for small search cost. Prices are lower in societies with more connections, while price dispersion remains even in fully connected societies.