Thus, following the merger, the prices of basal elementary school science programs likely would increase or the value of materials and services likely would decline. In addition, the acquisition would likely reduce incentives to improve the programs. Page 8 V. Reduced Competition in College Textbook Markets A. Relevant Product Markets 22. Publishers market textbooks and other educational materials to professors in colleges and universities throughout the country. In most cases, professors select the materials that will be used for their courses.
Professors generally select textbooks to serve as the primary teaching material for a course.
Textbooks provide the core written material for a course, serve as foundation for the professor's overall lesson plan, and set forth the framework for class discussions. Professors will choose among textbooks that can provide this core content and structure. Students then buy the textbook selected by their professor, typically at college bookstores. Publishers sometimes offer professors free ancillary educational materials, such as a teacher's edition of the textbook, audio-visual teaching tools such as color overhead slides, and copies of the textbook for teaching assistants, as inducements to choose a particular publisher's textbook. In addition, the textbooks that students buy sometimes are part of a discounted package that includes further ancillary educational materials such as CD-ROMs and study guides.