In a competitive marketplace, the effectiveness of any element of the marke
ting mix is determined not only by its absolute value, but also by its rela
tive value with respect to the competition. For example, the effectiveness
of a price cut in increasing demand is critically related to competitors' r
eaction to the price change. Managers therefore need to know the nature of
competitive interactions among firms.
In this paper, we take a theory-driven empirical approach to gain a deeper
understanding of the competitive pricing behavior in the U.S. auto market.
The ability-motivation paradigm posits that a firm needs both the ability a
nd the motivation to succeed in implementing a strategy (Boulding and Stael
in 1995). We use arguments from the game-theoretic literature to understand
firm motivation and abilities in different segments of the auto market. We
then combine these insights from the game-theoretic literature and the abi
lity-motivation paradigm to develop hypotheses about competition in differe
nt segments of the U.S. auto market. To test our hypotheses of competitive
behavior, we estimate a structural model that disentangles the competition
effect from the demand and cost effects on prices.
The theory of repeated games predicts that firms with a long-run profitabil
ity objective will try to sustain cooperative pricing behavior as a stable
equilibrium when conditions permit. For example, markets with high concentr
ation and stable market environments are favorable for sustaining cooperati
ve behavior and therefore provide firms with the ability to cooperate. The
theory of switching costs suggests that in markets in which a firm's curren
t customers tend to be loyal, firms have a motivation to compete very aggre
ssively for new customers, recognizing the positive benefits of loyalty fro
m the customer base in the long run. As consumer loyalty in the market incr
eases, the gains from increasing market share by means of aggressive compet
itive behavior are more than offset by losses in profit margins. Firms ther
efore have the motivation to price cooperatively.
Empirically, we find aggressive behavior in the minicompact and subcompact
segments, cooperative behavior in the compact and midsize segments, and Ber
trand behavior in the full-size segment. These findings are consistent with
our theory-based hypotheses about competition in different segments.
In estimating a structural model of the auto market, we address several met
hodological issues. A particular difficulty is the large number of car mode
ls in the U.S. auto market. Existing studies have inferred competitive beha
vior only in markets with two to four products. They also use relatively si
mple functional forms of demand to facilitate easy estimation. Functional f
orms of demand, however, impose structure on cross-elasticities between pro
ducts. Such structure, when inappropriate, can bias the estimates of compet
itive interaction. We therefore use the random coefficients logit demand mo
del to allow flexibility in cross-elasticities. We also use recent advances
in New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) to extend structural estim
ation of competitive behavior to markets with a large number of products. W
e use the simulation-based estimation approach developed by Berry et al. (1
995) to estimate our model.
A frequent criticism of the NEIO approach is that its focus on industry-spe
cific studies limits the generalizability of its findings. In this study, w
e retain the advantages of NEIO methods but partially address the issue of
generalizability by analyzing competitive behavior in multiple segments wit
hin the auto industry to see whether there is a consistent pattern that can
be explained by theory. Theoretical modelers can use our results to judge
the appropriateness of their models in predicting competitive outcomes for
the markets that they analyze.
A by-product of our analysis is that we also get estimates of demand and co
st apart from competitive interactions for the market. Managers can use the
se estimates to perform "what-if" analysis. They can answer questions about
what prices to charge when a new product is introduced or when an existing
product's characteristics are changed.