Media Concentration and Consumer Product Prices

Anthony Dukes ()

Economic Inquiry, 2006, vol. 44, issue 1, 128-141

Abstract: This article examines the interaction of commercial media and retail producers of well-known consumer products when advertising is used to differentiate brands. In particular, I address how competition in the media market affects choices of advertising and program quality. The results suggest counterintuitively that advertisers may actually prefer media markets with less competition for audiences. Product differentiation through advertising is more effective when media markets are less competitive, leading to higher prices for advertised products. As a result, media concentration may lead to higher profits for advertising firms if the additional revenue exceeds the higher advertising costs associated with media concentration. (JEL L11, L82, M37) Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

JEL-codes: L11 L82 M37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ei/cbj008 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: Media Concentration and Consumer Product Prices (2005)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:ecinqu:v:44:y:2006:i:1:p:128-141

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Economic Inquiry is currently edited by Preston McAfee

More articles in Economic Inquiry from Western Economic Association International Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().