14th Consumer Search and Switching Costs Workshop
About the Workshop
The Consumer Search and Switching Costs Workshop is an annual workshop that brings together leading economists and marketing researchers who are interested in modeling and quantifying consumer search frictions and switching costs.
In 2025, the conference will be co-hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and take place at CUHK Business School, 19-20 June. Researchers who wish to present should submit their papers or abstracts by 28 February.
We look forward to receiving your submissions and seeing you in Hong Kong.
Ivy Dang, HKU
T. Tony Ke, CUHK
Maarten Janssen, University of Vienna
Jose L. Moraga, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Raluca Ursu, New York University
Keynote Speaker
- Jidong Zhou (Yale University)
Registration and Accommodation
Everyone is welcome to attend the workshop. Please register here by 31 May 2025.
Our conference partner hotel is Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin, which is next-door to CUHK Business School, the conference venue. Three nights of complimentary accommodation will be provided to all presenters and discussants. Other participants can book the hotel at a special rate, with details to be provided later.
Travel and Visa Information
Nationals from approximately 170 countries and territories can visit Hong Kong visa-free for a maximum stay ranging from 7 to 180 days. For a detailed list of eligible countries, please refer to the table in Part II of this page: Hong Kong Immigration Department – Visit Visa/Entry Permit.
From Hong Kong, travellers can easily embark on excursions to mainland China and nearby destinations such as Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. Shenzhen is just across the border, Guangzhou is 1 hour away by train, and Yangshuo/Guilin can be reached in 3 hours by train. Major cities such as Shanghai (2.5 hours by air), Beijing, and Xi’an (both 3.5 hours by air) are also accessible. Please note that China has a separate visa policy. Starting this year, nationals from most European countries and North America can visit China visa-free for short periods. For more information, visit: China Briefing: Visa-Free Travel Policies Guide.
Transportation between the airport and the partner hotel – Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin.
By Taxi:
Fare: around HK$350, most taxis do not accept credit card or Octopus Card payment.
Travel Time: Approximately 45 minutes, depending on traffic.
By Airport Bus and then Taxi/MTR:
Step 1: Take airport bus route A41 from the airport to the Shatin Central Bus Terminus.
Fare: HK$23.4, payable in cash (exact fare only, no change given) or by Octopus Card.
Travel Time: Approximately 50–65 minutes, depending on traffic.
Step 2: From Shatin, take the MTR train to Lo Wu/Lok Ma Chau, with two stations to University.
Fare: HK$4.6, payable in cash for the ticket or by Octopus Card.
Travel Time: About 10 minutes.
For more information about nearby transportation, please refer here.
Programme
- Day 1 – Thursday, 19 June 2025
8:00-9:00am Registration
9:00-10:30am Session 1
Keynote Speaker
“Personalized Recommendations and Privacy Choice”
Jidong Zhou (Yale University)“Finding a Good Deal: Stable Prices, Costly Search, and the Effect of Entry”
David P. Myatt (London Business School), and David Ronayne (ESMT Berlin)
Discussant: Marcel Preuss (Cornell University)10:30-11:00am Coffee Break
11:00am-12:30pm Session 2
“Sequential Search Models: A Pairwise Maximum Rank Approach”
Jiarui Liu (New York University)
Discussant: Rafael Greminger (University College London)“A Pre-Trained Estimator for Consumer Search Model”
Yanhao ‘Max’ Wei (University of Southern California), and Zhenling Jiang (University of Pennsylvania)
Discussant: Matthijs Wildenbeest (University of Arizona)12:30-2:00pm Lunch
2:00-3:30pm Session 3
“Are Institutional Investors Sleeping on Yield? An Analysis of Inertia in Money Market Fund Choices”
Ali Hortacsu (University of Chicago), and Younggeun Yoo (University of Chicago)
Discussant: Eduard Boehm (London School of Economics)“Bridging between Hypothetical and Incentivized Choice”
Arash Laghaie (Nova School of Business and Economics), and Thomas Otter (Goethe University Frankfurt & Nova SBE)
Discussant: Xinyu Cao (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)3:30pm- 4:00pm Coffee Break
4:00-5:30pm Session 4
“Searching for rewards”
T. Tony Ke (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Jiwoong Shin (Yale University), and Xu Zhu (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
Discussant: Pak Hung Au (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)“Ordered Search with Learning”
Michael Choi (University of California, Irvine)
Discussant: Jay Pil Choi (Michigan State University)Dinner at Hong Kong Science and Technology Park – for invited guests only
- Day 2 – Friday, 20 June 2025
9:00-10:30am Session 1
“The Effects of Ads on Beliefs and Implications for Consumer Search”
Jean-Pierre Dubé (University of Chicago), Ilya Morozov (Northwestern University), and Anna Tuchman (Northwestern University)
Discussant: Heiko Karle (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management)“Do I Really Want to Buy This? Preference Discovery and Consumer Search”
Tobias J. Klein (Tilburg University), Christoph Walsh (Tilburg University), and Tinghan Zhang (Tilburg University)
Discussant: Xuan Teng (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)10:30-11:00am Coffee Break
11:00am-12:30pm Session 2
“Algorithmic Attention and Content Creation on Social Media Platforms”
Yi Chen (Cornell University), Fei Li (University of North Carolina), and Marcel Preuss (Cornell University)
Discussant: Jesse Yao (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)“The Limits of Search Algorithms”
Xiaoyu Chen (University of Tokyo), Jingmin Huang (Renmin University of China), and Yibo Lian (Pennsylvania State University)
Discussant: Tianle Zhang (Lingnan University)12:30-2:00pm Lunch
2:00-3:30pm Session 3
“Uncharted Waters: Selling a New Product Robustly”
Kun Zhang (University of Queensland)
Discussant: Zheng Gong (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen)“Resale Price Maintenance and Consumer Search”
Andrew Rhodes (Toulouse School of Economics), and Yang Yang (Toulouse School of Economics)
Discussant: Atabek Atayev (ZEW)3:30-4:00pm Coffee Break
4:00-4:45pm Session 4
“Estimating Position and Social Influence Effects in Online Search”
Ata Jameei Osgouei (Fairfield University), Andrew T. Ching (Johns Hopkins University), Brian Ratchford (University of Texas at Dallas), and Shervin Shahrokhi Tehrani (University of Texas at Dallas)
Discussant: Tat Chan (Washington University in St. Louis)Dinner at Tsim Sha Tsui
Victoria Harbor Cruise
General Enquiries
If you have any questions, please contact Stella Ng (stellang@cuhk.edu.hk) or Tony Ke (tonyke@cuhk.edu.hk).