We analyze price and quality competition in a vertically differentiated duopoly in which consumers have a preference for variety. The preference for variety is a consequence of diminishing marginal utility for repeated experiences with the same product. We find consumer variety-seeking can either soften or intensify price competition, depending on the difference in firm qualities and the streng...

Controlled experimental auctions can be used to elicit preferences for food products. We describe results from two series of experiments in which subjects revealed their willingness-to-pay for safer food. In one series, the risk reduction technology was not specified; in the other, it was identified as food irradiation. The results provide some evidence on the acceptability of food irradiation ...

In online shopping scenarios, it can be difficult for consumers to process large amounts of information and make a good purchase decision, particularly for multi-attributed products selection. Interactive decision aids that support preferential choice using information filtering are a potential solution to this problem. However, current methods that enable filtering based on initial customer pr...

Much research on residential mobility relies on examining people’s choices within the context of what is available in a local housing market. However, it is difficult to determine the demand for alternative housing or neighborhood types that may not be available or are available only in limited quantities. Hence, the market may not accurately reveal consumer preferences for such alternatives. W...

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Background: There are certain universally accepted tenets that support the continued adoption of sensory evaluation methods. One of these strongly held beliefs is that a person cannot have a preference between two perceptually identical products. This idea justifies the existence of difference testing sensory programs in many consumer product companies and is the basis for the argument that if ...

This paper presents a multidimensional scaling (MDS) methodology (vector model) for the spatial analysis of preference data that explicitIy models the effects of unfamiliarity on evoked preferences. Our objective is to derive a joint space map of brand locations and consumer preference vectors that is free from potential distortion resulting from the analysis of preference data confounded with ...