Vertical cooperative advertising in a retailer duopoly

This paper focuses on optimal pricing and advertising decisions within a two-echelon distribution channel, which consists of one manufacturer and two competing retailers. Assuming an inter-echelon Stackelberg equilibrium, where the manufacturer obtains channel leadership, we compare two different forms of retailer behavior: non-cooperative (Horizontal Nash) and cooperative (Cooperation). While the consumer demand depends both on retail price and advertising, the manufacturer can offer a vertical cooperative advertising program to increase the advertising efforts of his retailers. In order to derive a logically consistent price demand function, we deduce our demand function from the consumers’ utility function. Numerical examples lead to the following main findings: (i) consumers can benefit from retailer-competition, as it reduces retail price; (ii) the manufacturer’s participation in retailers’ advertising will be the highest when there is strong competition and no Cooperation; (iii) a Cooperation does not always yield higher profits for the retailers, but can also produce better results for the manufacturer.     

Pricing games of mixed conventional and e-commerce distribution channels

In this paper, a distribution system is studied, in which a supplier sells a common product through conventional (physical retailer) and e-commerce (e-tailers) channels. We examine two types of Stackelberg pricing games and one type of Nash pricing game in this dual-channel distribution system. We also analyze the effects of several key factors (i.e., the supplier’s pricing mode, game schemes, and efficiency of e-channel in relation to acceptance of channels) on the resulting prices as well as the profits for the supplier and the retailer, respectively. This paper is an effort to examine modeling competition in the multiple-channel environment from a pricing viewpoint. We find that channel acceptance plays a critical role in influencing equilibrium prices and profits in the dual-channel distribution system. When the customer acceptance of one channel exceeds a certain threshold, this channel cannibalizes all retail sales and dominates the distribution system. The supplier can make more profits by adopting a differential pricing strategy; on the contrary, the retailer prefers uniform pricing. Numerical analysis indicates that both the supplier and the retailer are worse off in the Nash game than in the Stackelberg games. The supplier prefers an e-channel with higher efficiency, whereas the physical retailer has to maintain higher channel acceptance to maintain its position in the distribution system.     

考虑产品替代的低碳供应链定价和政府财税

基于低碳经济背景,考虑由政府、制造商和零售商三方博弈构成的供应链,使用Stackelberg博弈和纳什均衡的分析方法求出模型的均衡解,并对比了零售商是否联合两种模式下的社会福利、制造商和零售商利润。结果表明：零售商联合情况下的零售商和制造商利润大于零售商非联合情形,同时产品需求量和社会福利与零售商非联合情形相同。高碳产品市场规模越大,社会福利、零售商和制造商利润会先下降后上升,低碳产品的生产成本增加,社会福利、制造商利润会下降,若零售商不联合,销售高碳产品零售商利润上升,销售低碳产品零售商利润下降,若零售商联合则零售商利润下降。     

考虑广告投入影响的再制造闭环供应链优化决策博弈模型研究

针对制造/再制造产品的市场竞争与合作问题, 考虑广告投入对产品消费者效用的增长效应及消费者环境偏好的影响, 在构建制造产品和再制造产品的市场需求函数基础上, 应用博弈方法比较分析合作博弈、纳什均衡博弈、Stackelberg主从博弈三种决策模式下制造/再制造产品的最优定价和广告投入策略, 并针对非合作博弈下的效率损失设计了闭环供应链中制造和再制造过程的利益协调机制。数值算例分析表明, 合作博弈决策下供应链总利润最优、制造和再制造产品市场销售价格最高, 而合作博弈和Stackelberg主从博弈都会以牺牲再制造产品利润为代价获得最优利润, 因此再制造部门会偏好纳什均衡博弈, 采取以自身利益最优为目标的竞争策略, 没有动机成为制造部门的跟随者。     

Two‐echelon manufacturer–retailer supply chain strategies with price,quality, and promotional effort sensitive demand

This study deals with the two‐layer supply chain model of one manufacturer and one retailer for a single commodity where market demand is assumed to be dependent on selling price, quality of the products, and promotional effort of the retailer. We investigate the behavior of the supply chain under centralized, manufacturer Stackelberg, conditional manufacturer Stackelberg, retailer Stackelberg, conditional retailer Stackelberg, and vertical Nash model structure. The nature of the above models provides great insights to a firm's manager for achieving optimal strategy in a competitive marketing system. Quite often, not all items produced in a firm are of perfect quality; some are perfect (conforming) quality and others are imperfect (nonconforming) quality. The nonconforming products are sold in a secondary shop or by other retailers. The procurement cost of finished products depends on the quality of the products due to more investment in advanced technology, better raw materials, and skilled labor, etc. The warranty policy for the products is also imposed to attract the customers to buy more. Here, both members (manufacturer and retailer) jointly share the cost of the warranty policy. The objective of this paper is to determine the optimal selling price and promotional effort of the retailer, while the optimal wholesale price and quality of the products are determined by the manufacturer so that the above strategies are maximized. Finally, numerical examples with sensitivity analysis of the key parameters are illustrated to investigate the proposed model.     

需求信息不对称下的双渠道供应链合作广告投资决策分析

研究制造商主导的Stackelberg 博弈下双渠道供应链的合作广告策略, 分析信息不对称及双渠道对供应链合作广告投资决策的影响. 研究表明, 零售商在具有需求信息优势时会谎报需求信息, 并且在一定条件下其谎报决策会降低制造商的利润, 但能提高供应链的利润, 这种情况下制造商无法通过激励合同促使零售商共享信息. 另外, 在最优合作广告策略下, 当直销渠道与分销渠道所占市场份额的分配比例小于一定值时, 制造商采取双渠道会使供应链参与者均受益.

     

公平关切下具有广告效应的闭环供应链定价决策模型

研究制造商公平关切下具有广告效应的闭环供应链定价决策问题.分别在制造商与零售商广告下,分析广告效应及制造商的公平关切行为对闭环供应链定价策略的影响.研究表明,广告效应对闭环供应链成员及系统整体都是有利的,制造商的公平关切行为有利于自身利润及效用最大化,不利于零售商及系统整体利润最大化.在制造商广告下,当制造商的公平关切程度相对较弱时,零售商的利润不小于制造商的利润;反之,制造商的利润更大.     

直销渠道选择对供应链成员决策的影响研究

在考虑直销渠道单位产品运作成本和消费者区域性差异特点的情况下,研究了处于主导地位的制造商开通直销渠道的条件,探讨了直销渠道对渠道需求、制造商和零售商的最优定价和利润的影响。结果表明,开通直销渠道不影响制造商的批发价定价,但可以迫使零售商降低零售价格;开通直销渠道使制造商在分散式供应链中和协调式供应链中都能获得更多利润,使零售商利润减少;只有当运作成本和消费者区域性差异都很大时,开通直销渠道对双方都是有利的,实现“双赢”局面。     

Dynamic pricing and channel efficiency in the presence of the cost learning effect

This paper investigates the impacts of the supply‐side cost learning effect on dynamic pricing strategies and the channel efficiency in a decentralized supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer. The unit production cost incurred by the manufacturer declines as the cumulative output increases. With the manufacturer being the price leader, the interactions between the two channel members are modeled as a Stackelberg differential game, where the two channel members dynamically set the wholesale and retail prices over time to optimize their respective profits. We find that while the cost learning effect is beneficial to both channel members in terms of long‐term profitability, such an effect is detrimental to the channel inefficiency caused by price double marginalization. In a setting where the manufacturer sells through competing retailers, we show that the channel efficiency can be improved with the emergence of horizontal competition. Our result also indicates that the channel efficiency with a feedback pricing equilibrium is higher than that with an open‐loop equilibrium.     

Optimal advertising decisions for promoting retail and online channels in a dynamic framework

Advertising plays an important role in sales promotion in supply chains. In this paper, advertising decisions for retail and online channels respectively, by retailer and manufacturer will be analyzed. The competition between retailer and manufacturer will be modeled by differential game theory, and feedback Nash equilibrium of the game will be obtained. Some insights are provided by using comparative statics. The obtained results show that compatibility factor of a product with online marketing, difference between manufacturer's online price and wholesale price, effectiveness of advertising, marginal profits, and cost of advertising all have significant effects on the advertising decisions in the equilibrium.     

The impact of consumer behavior on preannounced pricing for a dual‐channel supply chain

This study discusses a dual‐channel supply chain in which a manufacturer sells a regular‐priced product through dual channels in the normal sales period and only sells overstocked products through the direct channel in the discounted sales period in the presence of strategic consumers. The manufacturer acts as a Stackelberg leader to adopt a preannounced pricing policy. This study first proposes demand functions for a two‐period dual‐channel model by incorporating consumer utility functions. Based on the demand functions, optimal pricing strategies for both manufacturer and retailer are established. The results show that the manufacturer prefers to raise prices in both periods for consumers with a short delivery lead time. However, counterintuitively, the selling prices set by the manufacturer do not decrease as the degree of consumer patience increases. Finally, there is a Pareto zone under a certain condition where both the manufacturer and the retailer in the two‐period dual‐channel model outperform their counterparts in terms of profit in the single‐period dual‐channel model.     

制造商竞争与合作下双渠道供应链联合减排的微分博弈分析

以两个制造商与一个零售商组成的双渠道供应链为研究对象,分析制造商竞争与合作模型下供应链的最优均衡策略,并探讨系统关键参数对供应链各成员利润的影响.研究发现,只有当减排效率差异水平满足一定条件时,两制造商才会同时选择合作,且合作模型下制造商的利润总和增大,而减排努力、广告分担率、广告努力和零售商的利润减小.随着传统渠道市场占有率、减排竞争和广告竞争的增大,竞争模型下零售商的利润增大,而合作模型下的利润与广告竞争无关;制造商的利润变化取决于减排效率、网络渠道和传统渠道的边际利润.     

存在强势零售商与直销渠道的供应链内生时机

在由强弱零售商和直销渠道组成的非对称供应链中,探讨定价权转移、消费者忠诚度以及保留价格差异对三种博弈时机下均衡结果的影响,然后研究供应链内生时机,对消费者剩余和社会福利进行分析,最后通过数值仿真验证所得结论。研究表明:在三种博弈时机下,定价权转移使得强势零售商比竞争对手获得更多利润;供应链博弈内生时机为制造商领导和零售商领导;随着产品保留价格差异的增加,消费者剩余降低,但社会福利先降低后升高。     

The impact of customer returns on decisions in a newsvendor problem with and without buyback policies

In this paper, we examine how customer returns influence the retailer's ordering decision, the manufacturer's wholesale price decision, and the profits of the manufacturer and the retailer, in a single‐period, stochastic demand (newsvendor) setting. When the manufacturer is a Stackelberg leader and the retailer is the follower, we also examine how to contract a buyback policy, where the manufacturer buys back both unsold inventory and customer‐returned products, so that both the manufacturer and the retailer are more profitable than if they operate independently. We also show how this work can be generalized to the case of multiple retailers.     

模糊闭环供应链的定价与销售努力决策

从期望利润最大化的角度研究了单周期两级模糊闭环供应链的定价与销售努力最优决策问题。分析了包含一个制造商和一个零售商的闭环供应链中的模糊不确定性及需求依赖于零售价格和零售商销售努力的性质,分别建立了集中式决策模型和零售商主导的Stackelberg 博弈模型并进行了求解。数值算例验证了模型的有效性,结论表明：考虑销售努力时产品的最优零售价格、批发价格分别高于不考虑销售努力情形下的相应价格;考虑销售努力时零售商和系统的最大期望利润分别大于不考虑销售努力情形下的最大期望利润。     

竞争回收下制造商的回收定价与合作策略

针对传统人工回收和智能回收在回收方式上的差异,考虑消费者对智能回收渠道的选择偏好,分别构建单一传统回收、单一智能回收、双回收渠道下分散决策和集中决策模型,以及制造商分别与传统回收商和智能回收商合作的决策模型,分析了竞争回收下制造商的回收定价与回收合作策略.研究表明:相对于单一回收渠道,双回收渠道竞争会促使传统回收商和智能回收商提高回收价,但会降低回收商的利润;与单一回收渠道相比,双回收渠道下制造商、零售商和供应链的利润会增加,而制造商与回收商合作可进一步提高制造商、零售商和供应链的利润;以双回收渠道分散决策为参照,制造商与传统回收商和智能回收商之间均有合作动机,且制造商与传统回收商合作后的增量利润较大,制造商与智能回收商合作后的增量利润较小.     

网购环境下提供退款保证时的决策模型研究

研究了不同供应链成员提供退款保证策略及其优化选择问题。考虑了由单个制造商和单个零售商组成的单条供应链,共考虑了三种退款保证策略,即制造商和零售商均不提供退款保证、仅零售商提供退款保证以及仅制造商提供退款保证策略。分别求解得到相应的最优消费者需求量、零售价格、批发价格以及利润的联合决策。研究发现：零售商的商品销售价格、制造商的批发价格、消费者的需求量以及零售商和制造商的利润都与是否提供退款保证服务有关。发现只要当供应链成员提供退款保证服务时商品残值满足一定条件,提供退款保证不仅不会使供应链成员利润降低,反而会提高他们的利润水平;当制造商提供退款保证时商品残值与零售商提供退款保证时商品残值的差值满足一定的条件,供应链中制造商和零售商提供退款保证服务都有可能给供应链带来更高的利润水平。     

Manufacturer warranty service outsourcing strategies in a dual‐channel supply chain

Warranty management for durable products has received increasing attention in recent years. In addition to conventionally keeping warranty in‐house, more manufacturers choose to outsource warranty service to agents. This paper explores outsourcing strategies for manufacturer warranty services in a dual‐channel supply chain by which the demand‐enhancing service can be undertaken by different supply chain parties. We show the results of three alternative outsourcing strategies for manufacturers whereby (a) the retailer undertakes the service, (b) a third party undertakes the service, and (c) both the retailer and a third party undertake the service simultaneously. According to Stackelberg game theory, we build a two‐echelon supply chain model and discuss the corresponding expressions for supply chain members' equilibrium decisions. Additionally, we compare the profits of each supply chain member and derive interesting managerial insights. When the base market size is relatively large, Scenario R helps the manufacturer and the retailer reach a “win‐win” situation.     

基于微分对策的供应链合作广告决策研究

针对供应链系统中制造商和零售商的合作广告计划问题,利用微分对策构建动态模型．分别研究制造商和零售商在合作和非合作条件下的广告策略．运用动态规划原理。分别得出静态反馈Nash均衡和反馈Stackelberg均衡,将两种均衡策略加以比较,结果显示合作广告计划是供应链系统中的一种协调和激励机制,可以提高两个渠道成员以及整个供应链系统的利润。     

不同权力结构下供应链减排策略随机微分博弈

在由单个制造商和单个零售商构成的低碳供应链中,制造商与零售商之间不同的权力结构决定着他们的减排策略与博弈方式.同时,低碳产品商誉与需求受到制造商与零售商减排策略及随机因素的长期动态影响.在不同的权力结构下,对制造商减排努力策略与零售商宣传努力策略进行随机微分博弈分析;在集中式决策基础上,分别构建制造商主导与零售商主导的Stackelberg博弈、无主导Nash博弈模型,求解模型并对结果进行理论分析与数值实验.研究发现:相较于自己作为主导者,对方作为主导者会促使制造商或零售商做出更大的减排努力或宣传努力;与有主导者的供应链相比,无主导者的供应链可能实现更大的低碳产品商誉;制造商作为主导者能够提升低碳产品商誉与需求以及供应链总利润.随机因素促使制造商和零售商分别提高了减排努力和宣传努力以及低碳产品商誉.