Packaging of sin goods – Commitment or exploitation?

Else Gry Bro Christensen and Julia Nafziger

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2016, vol. 122, issue C, 62-74

Abstract: We consider the shopping and consumption decision of an individual with a self-control problem. The consumer believes that restricting the consumption of a sinful product (such as chips) is in his long-run interest. But when facing the actual decision he is tempted to overeat. We ask how firms react to such self-control problems, and possibly exploit them, by offering different package sizes. In a competitive market, either one or three package sizes are offered. In contrast to common intuition, the large, and not the small package might be a commitment device. The latter may serve to exploit the naive consumer.

Keywords: Quasi-hyperbolic discounting; Self-control; Consumer behavior; Non-linear pricing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D03 D11 D49 D86 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Packaging of sin goods - Commitment or exploitation? (2016)
Working Paper: Packaging of Sin Goods - Commitment or Exploitation? (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:122:y:2016:i:c:p:62-74

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2015.11.007

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