Mapping the Ethicality of Algorithmic Pricing: A Review of Dynamic and Personalized Pricing

Seele, Peter; Dierksmeier, Claus; Hofstetter, Reto; Schultz, Mario D.

doi:10.1007/s10551-019-04371-w

Cited by 95 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 149 publications

(232 reference statements)

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“…This autonomy-based argument vis-à-vis coercion is a significant innovation because it expands the set of deontological moral elements, such as transparency or informed consent, considered in the literature about privacy and big data (Alder 1998 ; Ashworth and Free 2006 ; Hoven et al 2012 ; ICDPPC 2018 ; Privacy International & Article 19 2018 ; Christen et al 2019 ; Jobin et al 2019 ; Nill et al 2019 ). No account of coercion by psychological threats is found in most ethical analyses of either privacy or personalized pricing (Seele et al 2019 ). The analysis of the concept of psychological threats (or ‘threats’ in the following explanations; see also Sect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highway to (Digital) Surveillance: When Are Clients Coerced to Share Their Data with Insurers?

2020

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Clients may feel trapped into sharing their private digital data with insurance companies to get a desired insurance product or premium. However, private insurance must collect some data to offer products and premiums appropriate to the client’s level of risk. This situation creates tension between the value of privacy and common insurance business practice. We argue for three main claims: first, coercion to share private data with insurers is pro tanto wrong because it violates the autonomous choice of a privacy-valuing client. Second, we maintain that irrespective of being coerced, the choice of accepting digital surveillance by insurers makes it harder for the client to protect his or her autonomy (and to act spontaneously and authentically). The violation of autonomy also makes coercing customers into digital surveillance pro tanto morally wrong. Third, having identified an economically plausible process involving no direct coercion by insurers, leading to the adoption of digital surveillance, we argue that such an outcome generates further threats against autonomy. This threat provides individuals with a pro tanto reason to prevent this process. We highlight the freedom dilemma faced by regulators who aim to prevent this outcome by constraining market freedoms and argue for the need for further moral and empirical research on this question.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highway to (Digital) Surveillance: When Are Clients Coerced to Share Their Data with Insurers?

2020

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“…Despite the problematic privacy and data protection issues some consumers continue to trust and give consent to have their information accessed. Yet, it is frustrating to discover that further down the line, those same consumers encounter unethical problems like algorithmic pricing and targeted advertising [61,62], where customers could lose access on those products and information that are not "programmed" to be "useful" to them. This may even apply to actually losing out on better options or even cheaper deals.…”

Section: Ai-empowered Privacy Conscious Personalisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Human Digitalisation Journey: Technology First at the Expense of Humans?

2021

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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced the impact of digitalisation as a driver of transformation and advancements across almost every aspect of human life. With the majority actively embracing smart technologies and their benefits, the journey of human digitalisation has begun. Will human beings continue to remain solitary unaffected beings in the middle of the whirlpool—a gateway to the completely digitalised future? This journey of human digitalisation probably started much earlier, before we even realised. This paper, in the format of an objective review and discussion, aims to investigate the journey of human digitalisation, explore the reality of domination between technology and humans, provide a better understanding of the human value and human vulnerability in this fast transforming digital era, so as to achieve valuable and insightful suggestion on the future direction of the human digitalisation journey.

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“…The only common feature is the use of new technologies and the goal, i.e., to maximize firm's profit. This net distinction has been very well studied in all its facets by [12]. Dynamic pricing is that practice through which online seller use algorithms to constantly update their prices in line with the information related to both the demand and the supply side of a market.…”

Section: Price Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Price Discrimination in the Online Airline Market: An Empirical Study

Azzolina

Razza²,

Sartiano

et al. 2021

JTAER

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Big Data technologies have significantly increased the possibility for sellers to adopt personalisation strategies, especially in digital markets. Among such strategies, price discrimination, a practice where the same commodity is sold at different prices, either to the same customer or to different customers, stands out. Particularly, the online airline ticket market has risen the attention of economists in recent studies, both because of its specificity and of the high data availability. This manuscript enters the debate and analyses the airline ticket market in an original way. Indeed, the aim of this work is to empirically understand whether some airline companies discriminate in prices by using the customers’ data that they collect from their websites, and, if so, which is the impact on social welfare. For performing this assessment, a software that is able to automatically collect pricing data is developed and freely released. By executing the software in two time periods, tickets prices of three airlines, three itineraries, and four different user profiles are acquired. A double analysis is performed to check if customers’ information are used to discriminate (intra-user), and if different prices are offered to distinct user profiles (inter-user). Moreover, the analyses consider control data collected from the API of the Global Distribution System Amadeus, the main flight booking platform dedicated to travel agents. Upon inspection, no evidence is found in this study to support the hypothesis that airlines use price discrimination techniques.

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Mapping the Ethicality of Algorithmic Pricing: A Review of Dynamic and Personalized Pricing

Cited by 95 publications

References 149 publications

Highway to (Digital) Surveillance: When Are Clients Coerced to Share Their Data with Insurers?

Highway to (Digital) Surveillance: When Are Clients Coerced to Share Their Data with Insurers?

The Human Digitalisation Journey: Technology First at the Expense of Humans?

Price Discrimination in the Online Airline Market: An Empirical Study

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