Multiproduct search obfuscation

A Search Cost Model of Obfuscation

This paper develops search-theoretic models in which it is individually rational for firms to engage in obfuscation. It considers oligopoly competition between firms selling a homogeneous good to a population of rational consumers who incur search costs to learn each firm’s price. Search costs are endogenized: obfuscation is equated with unobservable actions that make it more time-consuming to ...

Search, Obfuscation, and Price Elasticities on the Internet: Supplementary Material

Price Obfuscation and Consumer Search: An Empirical Analysis∗

Firms affect consumer demand not only through their pricing decisions, but also through the ways in which they release price information to consumers. Non-uniform price schedules or the inclusion of complex pricing elements hinder comparison shopping, possibly eliminating products from consideration for purchase. We study the effect of such price complexity on consumer search and demand in the ...

Web search query privacy: Evaluating query obfuscation and anonymizing networks

Web Search is one of the most rapidly growing applications on the internet today. However, the current practice followed by most search engines – of logging and analyzing users’ queries – raises serious privacy concerns. In this paper, we concentrate on two existing solutions which are relatively easy to deploy – namely Query Obfuscation and Anonymizing Networks. In query obfuscation, a client-...

Multiproduct Firms, Information, and Loyalty * Multiproduct Firms, Information, and Loyalty

This study provides evidence that the portfolio of products offered by a multiproduct firm affects consumer purchase decisions with respect to each of its products. We present a theory that explains this empirical regularity. The theory involves revising the information set of consumers to include the profile of multiproduct firms. We show that revising the information set in this way introduce...