Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/322281 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
ECONtribute Discussion Paper No. 363
Version Description: 
June 2025 (updated version)
Publisher: 
University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Reinhard Selten Institute (RSI), Bonn and Cologne
Abstract: 
Market definition is essential for antitrust analysis, but challenging in settings with network effects, where substitution patterns depend on changes in network size. To address this challenge, we conduct an incentivized experiment to measure substitution patterns for TikTok, a popular social media platform. Our experiment, conducted during a time of high uncertainty about a potential U.S. TikTok ban, compares changes in the valuation of other social apps under individual and collective TikTok deactivations. Consistent with a simple framework, the valuations of alternative social apps increase more in response to a collective TikTok ban than to an individual TikTok deactivation. Our framework and estimates highlight that individual and collective treatments can even lead to qualitatively different conclusions about which alternative goods are substitutes.
Subjects: 
Markets
Network Goods
Coordination
Collective Interventions
JEL: 
D83
D91
P16
J15
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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