Curious about the price? Consumers’ behavior in price reveal auctions

We exploit some specific features of a peculiar online selling mechanism, the so-called price reveal auctions, to empirically investigate how consumers’ behaviour changes in response to an item’s ‘social attributes.’ We document a significant effect of the item’s brand and portability in influencing consumers’ willingness to pay. We show that, although both characteristics have some explanatory power when considered in isolation, it is their interaction that really matters.