When consumers decide to upgrade to a new or better product, they often trade in their currently owned or used product for the new one. The authors examine whether such trade-in behavior, in which consumers must negotiate the price for both the new and the used product, affects their willingness-to-pay price for the new good. Drawing on research on mental accounting, the authors reason that whe…
When consumers decide to upgrade to a new or better product, they often trade in their currently owned or used product for the new one. The authors examine whether such trade-in behavior, in which consumers must negotiate the price for both the new and the used product, affects their willingness-to-pay price for the new good. Drawing on research on mental accounting, the authors reason that whe…
By treating leasing and financing contracts as differentiated products with their own unique acquisition costs, the authors develop a structural model of a consumer's choice of automobile and the related decision of whether to lease or buy it. They estimate the model on a data set of new car purchases from the entry-luxury segment of the U.S. automobile market. A key finding is that consumers a…