Question

Explain hoe bundling reduces consumer choice and sovereignty

Answer 1

Bundling is a process of selling two or more goods at an integrated price. It is advantageous for many people who want to buy two goods but are unable to buy these due to high prices. Now, if bundled price of two goods is cheaper than the individual price of those goods, then obviously customers will prefer to purchase goods at bundled price rather than buying each one at individual price.

However, there is biggest drawback of bundling, which is it attacks customer sovereignty. The customer sovereignty is rights and powers of customers to know about what goods and services are actually useful for them or not. Therefore, consumer market should be governed by consumers' tastes, preferences, needs and choices only and companies should not try to sell some products in bundles that are not useful for consumers. Therefore, at the one hand, bundling allows consumers to buy two or more products at a cheaper price but it also hinders independent buying decisions of consumers.