Information Acquisition and Product Differentiation Perception
研究了消费者在购买前付费获取偏好信息如何影响其对产品差异化的感知，以及卖方的定价竞争均衡，分析了信息获取成本和差异化敏感度的比较静态效应。
We consider the equilibrium interplay between sellers' price competition and consumers' perception of product differentiation. We analyze a situation where, before trading, consumers acquire information at a cost about their preferences between sellers' differentiated products. The incentive for information acquisition depends on the average value of products, the objective product differentiation, and their beliefs about sellers' prices. The acquired information shapes consumers' perceived product differentiation and sellers' equilibrium prices. We characterize the unique symmetric equilibrium and study comparative statics with respect to consumer information acquisition cost and sensitivity to product differentiation.