^aDepartment of Economics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA. E-mail: esewell@uncc.edu

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of the internet on intra-brand competition in new car markets by empirically examining its role in the search process. The model is a two-equation simultaneous system with one continuous and one dichotomous dependent variable. Equation one explains the overall amount of intra-brand search while equation two explains the decision to utilize the internet in the search process. Having established a significant increase in intra-brand competition, the paper proceeds to address the impact on free riding in retail automobile markets, long argued to be the likely outcome of excessive intra-brand competition.