Egg and spoon race

Why do Easter eggs hit the shelves on Boxing Day? Taylor's answer is a tidy piece of oligopoly logic: once one supermarket brings Easter forward, rivals follow or risk losing not just the egg sale but the customer's whole shop, the same reasoning that keeps stores open 24 hours. She adds a behavioural layer on scarcity and FOMO around novelty products (a giant caramel croissant, a chocolate biscuit) that we buy early for fear of missing out. Useful for interdependence and strategic behaviour in oligopoly, competition for market share, and behavioural nudges around scarcity. Accessible to all students and a good, familiar example when introducing why firms in concentrated markets copy each other.  Read here