Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
无条件全额退款对消费者有利吗？
Do Unconditional Full Refunds Benefit Consumers?
摘要
Unconditional full-refund policies are widely perceived as consumer-friendly. This paper shows that they can reduce consumer surplus compared to stricter return policies. We develop a model in which a monopolist sells products of uncertain reliability and chooses both the refund amount and the length of the return period. Consumers learn about product reliability during use, and the seller can salvage value from returned defective items. Under an unconditional full-refund policy, the seller can strategically shorten the return period to deter consumers from exploiting the generous return window (i.e., wardrobing). This effect is especially pronounced when consumers derive high utility from the product, as a longer free trial is too costly for the seller to offer. The shorter return period limits the seller’s ability to recover value from genuinely defective products, raising the seller’s effective production cost, which is ultimately transferred to consumers.
中文摘要
无条件全额退款政策被广泛视为对消费者友好。本文表明，与更严格的退货政策相比，此类政策可能减少消费者剩余。我们构建了一个模型，其中垄断者销售可靠性不确定的产品，并同时选择退款金额和退货期限的长度。消费者在使用过程中了解产品可靠性，而卖方可以从退回的缺陷产品中回收残值。在无条件全额退款政策下，卖方可以策略性地缩短退货期限，以阻止消费者利用慷慨的退货窗口（即“衣橱购物”行为）。当消费者从产品中获得高效用时，这一效应尤为显著，因为提供更长的免费试用期对卖方而言成本过高。较短的退货期限限制了卖方从真正有缺陷的产品中回收价值的能力，从而提高了卖方的有效生产成本，这一成本最终转嫁给消费者。