The Experience Good Model of Trade Union Membership

The terms “experience” and “search” have been part of most economists’ vocabulary for nearly thirty years. ¹ Experience goods, according to Nelson (1970), are goods and services whose attributes and quality are hard to discern prior to purchase, whereas search goods are composed of attributes that can be easily identified before purchase. These concepts are so ubiquitous that they form part of almost every introductory industrial organization (10) textbook and have appeared in countless other management and marketing contexts as well (Kotler 2000). Indeed, they are even applicable in nonproduct market settings.