TY  - JOUR
AU  - Rotemberg,Julio J.
TI  - Persuasion and empathy in salesperson-customer interactions
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15975
PY  - 2010
Y2  - May 2010
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15975
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15975.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Julio J. Rotemberg
Graduate School of Business
Harvard University, Morgan Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA  02163
Tel: 617/495-1015
Fax: 617/496-5994
E-Mail: jrotemberg@hbs.edu
AB  - In a search model, prospects encounter salespeople who can try to persuade them. Persuasive messages can increase the utility of buying or increase the cost of not buying. The latter reduces welfare. Equilibria where only some salespeople make a persuasive effort often exist. Salespeople vary in their empathy, and choose their jobs accordingly. When all prospects are persuadable, a negative correlation between empathy and sales suggests that persuasion increases the cost of not buying. When only some are, messages that increase the utility of purchasing can reduce welfare.  They can also lead to a negative correlation between empathy and sales.
ER  -