Targeted advertising with R&D rivalry

Abstract

We analyze the effect of targeted informative advertising on firms’ incentive to improve product quality and the welfare implications. We find that, compared with mass advertising, targeted advertising results in (i) a decreased incentive to invest in R&D unless the cost of advertising is sufficiently low, (ii) a lower mark-up, net of product quality, being charged to consumers, and (iii) a smaller (larger) proportion of uninformed consumers when the cost of advertising is low (high). The firms may earn higher or lower profits, but consumers are usually better off due both to the lower net mark-up and to improved product-consumer match. Under certain conditions though, the negative impact of more uninformed consumers dominates and leads to reduced consumer and total welfare.