Consumer Exploitation and Notice Periods

Authors:

Murooka, Takeshi (Osaka University)
Schwarz, Marco (University of Innsbruck)

Abstract:

Firms often set long notice periods when consumers cancel a contract, and sometimes do so even when the costs of changing or canceling the contract are small. We investigate a model in which a firm offers a contract to consumers who may procrastinate canceling it due to naive present-bias. We show that the firm may set a long notice period to exploit naive consumers.

Keywords:

notice periods; procrastination; present bias; time inconsistency; consumer naivete

JEL-Classification:

D04; D18; D21; D40; D90; L51

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Consumer Exploitation and Notice Periods
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