Product Information Websites: Are They Good for Consumers?
研究了产品信息网站对企业盈利、消费者剩余和社会福利的影响，发现这类网站可能减少社会福利并损害消费者利益，即使它们以最大化消费者剩余为目标。
Product information websites have become ubiquitous in supporting B2C E-Commerce. This study explores their impact on firm profitability, consumer surplus, and social welfare. Using an analytical model, we show that firms take advantage of such infomediaries and reduce their own information investments, increasing their profitability. Surprisingly, we find that the existence of these websites may actually reduce social welfare. Contrary to the common belief that product information websites are good for buyers, we show that they may be hurting consumers, even when they seek to maximize consumer surplus as their principal goal. These findings question the uncritical acceptance of infomediaries as beneficial to markets in general, and buyers in particular, especially when the infomediaries assume roles that substitute the information disclosure investments that sellers freely choose to make.