Interpersonal Bundling

Yongmin CHEN, Tianle ZHANG

Research output: Other Conference ContributionsConference Paper (other)Researchpeer-review

Abstract

Sellers sometimes offer goods for sale under both a regular price and a discount for group purchase if the consumer group reaches some minimum size. This selling practice, which we term interpersonal bundling, is analyzed in a general framework of product bundling. We characterize the optimal prices and bundle size by a monopoly seller, and explain why interpersonal bundling is a profitable strategy in response to demand uncertainty. We also discuss other strategic considerations in formulating this selling strategy. Our analysis provides sufficient conditions for interpersonal bundling to dominate separate selling, and offers insights on how to enhance its profit advantage.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 22 Jun 2014
Event2014 Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society - Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China
Duration: 20 Jun 201422 Jun 2014
http://www.econ.sinica.edu.tw/AMES2014.html

Conference

Conference2014 Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society
Country/TerritoryTaiwan, Province of China
CityTaipei
Period20/06/1422/06/14
Internet address

Keywords

  • Interpersonal bundling
  • bundling
  • group purchase
  • group discount
  • demand uncertainty

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