Suchergebnisse

It is important to differentiate between the act of purchasing and the act of consuming. Understanding this separation provides many implications and areas for future research. For example, the separation creates buyer uncertainty about the utility from consumption. Consider buying a ticket for a concert in advance. Here, buyers may be uncertain about their future state (e.g., health, expected conflicts, mood) at the time of the concert. This article explores the desirability and implications of this separation and the creation of it (which is often a consequence of the service provider's selling strategy). The authors show that service providers can improve profits by advance ticketing, perhaps, to the level of first-degree price discrimination (although usually there is no loss in aggregate consumer surplus). These profits are possible despite a service provider's inability to price discriminate.

Many service providers offer different service classes (e.g., first class, second class). Because the capacity of each class is set in advance, providers may end up with unfilled first-class capacity at the time of service delivery. When this happens, providers often upgrade some of their customers from a lower service class to a higher one. One way in which service providers manage upgrades is by selling, in advance, tickets that entitle the holder to an upgrade if space becomes available in a higher service class. This article investigates the circumstances under which upgradeable tickets are profitable, how to price them, and how many to issue. Upgradeable tickets increase the provider's profits when the probability of obtaining full price for first-class service is sufficiently high. With upgradeable tickets, more of the available capacity can be reserved for potential customers who are willing to pay a high price for high-end service.