Hotelling competition with avoidable horizontal product differentiation
研究了消费者可自费改变产品默认水平特征时，霍特林竞争的市场均衡可能从各卖家服务最近消费者转变为单一卖家服务所有消费者，甚至导致均衡不存在，且默认切换成本可能通过减少竞争来提高卖家利润。
Abstract We extend the standard model of Hotelling competition to allow consumers, at personal cost, to change the default horizontal characteristic of the product they purchase. The potential to change this characteristic can cause the market equilibrium to switch from one in which each seller serves only its closest consumers to one in which one seller serves all consumers. This potential can also lead to the non‐existence of equilibria. Although default‐switching costs can reduce a seller's profit by reducing its product's appeal, they can also commit the seller to compete less vigorously for “distant” consumers, and thereby increase equilibrium profit.