Bundling is a marketing tactic that involves offering two or more goods or services as a package deal for a discounted price. Examples of bundling are as widespread as McDonald's value meals and automobiles with features such as air conditioning, sunroofs, and geographical systems. The most well-known example is the bundled computer package complete with a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and preloaded software for a single price. Alternatively, one could select and buy each component of the system separately. All components being equal, the differences are that the buyer doesn't have to purchase each item separately, and that the bundled package could cost as much as a third less than the each-sold-separately package. Bundling can be of products from one company, but cross-industry bundling is not uncommon—for example combining airline tickets with credit cards.

Bundling has been researched for over thirty-seven years. While it doesn't...