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Product Assortment in a Triopoly

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  • Steven M. Shugan

    (Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637)

Abstract

Producers of super-premium ice cream, such as Häagen-Dazs, offer a smaller assortment of flavors than the producers of lesser quality ice cream. Examples of this phenomenon can be found in other industries as well. In many industries, the producers of higher-quality products offer a smaller assortment of flavors, colors, sizes, patterns, textures, fragrances, tones, styles, models, designs, types or other options. This paper explores when and why producers of super-premium products should find it profitable to offer a smaller assortment than the producers of nonpremium products. We derive a Nash equilibrium both on prices and product assortments for a triopoly. At the Nash equilibrium, we show that additional product quality, increased consumer price-sensitivity and greater assortment costs discourages product assortment. We also show that a larger market potential, greater competitive costs and sharper competition encourage more assortment by the super-premium producer.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven M. Shugan, 1989. "Product Assortment in a Triopoly," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 304-320, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:35:y:1989:i:3:p:304-320
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.35.3.304
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    Cited by:

    1. Kostas Axarloglou, 2008. "Product line extensions: causes and effects," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 9-21.
    2. Mesak, Hani I. & Bari, Abdullahel & Blackstock, Rob, 2016. "On the robustness and strategic implications of a parsimonious advertising – inventory competitive model with extensions to pricing competition," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 38-47.
    3. Claudio Giachetti & Giovanni Battista Dagnino, 2014. "Detecting the relationship between competitive intensity and firm product line length: Evidence from the worldwide mobile phone industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9), pages 1398-1409, September.
    4. Nan Xia & S. Rajagopalan, 2009. "Standard vs. Custom Products: Variety, Lead Time, and Price Competition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 887-900, 09-10.
    5. Narendra Agrawal & Stephen A. Smith, 2003. "Optimal retail assortments for substitutable items purchased in sets," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(7), pages 793-822, October.
    6. Suren Basov & Svetlana Danilkina & David Prentice, 2020. "When Does Variety Increase with Quality?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 56(3), pages 463-487, May.
    7. Wallace J. Hopp & Xiaowei Xu, 2008. "A Static Approximation for Dynamic Demand Substitution with Applications in a Competitive Market," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 56(3), pages 630-645, June.
    8. Michaela Draganska & Dipak C. Jain, 2005. "Product‐Line Length as a Competitive Tool," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 1-28, March.
    9. Stephen A. Smith & Narendra Agrawal, 2000. "Management of Multi-Item Retail Inventory Systems with Demand Substitution," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 48(1), pages 50-64, February.
    10. Torsten Bornemann & Cornelia Hattula & Stefan Hattula, 2020. "Successive product generations: financial implications of industry release rhythm alignment," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 1174-1191, November.
    11. Stephen F. Hamilton & Timothy J. Richards, 2009. "Product Differentiation, Store Differentiation, and Assortment Depth," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(8), pages 1368-1376, August.
    12. Dmitri Kuksov & J. Miguel Villas-Boas, 2010. "When More Alternatives Lead to Less Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 507-524, 05-06.
    13. Garrett van Ryzin & Siddharth Mahajan, 1999. "On the Relationship Between Inventory Costs and Variety Benefits in Retail Assortments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(11), pages 1496-1509, November.
    14. A. Gürhan Kök & Marshall L. Fisher, 2007. "Demand Estimation and Assortment Optimization Under Substitution: Methodology and Application," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 55(6), pages 1001-1021, December.
    15. Çömez-Dolgan, Nagihan & Dağ, Hilal & Fescioglu-Unver, Nilgun & Şen, Alper, 2023. "Multi-plant manufacturing assortment planning in the presence of transshipments," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 310(3), pages 1033-1050.
    16. Mümin Kurtuluc{s} & Alper Nakkas, 2011. "Retail Assortment Planning Under Category Captainship," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 13(1), pages 124-142, March.
    17. Andrikopoulos, A. & Dassiou, X., 2018. "Exchange-rate exposure in a “Rule of Three” Model," Working Papers 18/02, Department of Economics, City University London.
    18. Anocha Aribarg & Neeraj Arora, 2008. "—Interbrand Variant Overlap: Impact on Brand Preference and Portfolio Profit," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 474-491, 05-06.
    19. Charlotte R. Ren & Ye Hu & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Jerry Hausman, 2011. "Managing Product Variety and Collocation in a Competitive Environment: An Empirical Investigation of Consumer Electronics Retailing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(6), pages 1009-1024, June.
    20. Gérard P. Cachon & Christian Terwiesch & Yi Xu, 2008. "On the Effects of Consumer Search and Firm Entry in a Multiproduct Competitive Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 461-473, 05-06.
    21. Mesak, Hani I., 1999. "On the generalizability of advertising pulsation monopoly results to an oligopoly," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 429-449, September.
    22. Faisal Khurshid & Woo‐Yong Park & Felix T. S. Chan, 2020. "The impact of competition on vertical integration: The role of technological niche width," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 789-800, March.
    23. Spassova, Gerri & Isen, Alice M., 2013. "Positive affect moderates the impact of assortment size on choice satisfaction," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 397-408.
    24. Steven M. Shugan & Jihwan Moon & JQiaoni Shi & Nanda S. Kumar, 2017. "Product Line Bundling: Why Airlines Bundle High-End While Hotels Bundle Low-End," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(1), pages 124-139, January.
    25. A. Ye(scedilla)im Orhun, 2009. "Optimal Product Line Design When Consumers Exhibit Choice Set-Dependent Preferences," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 868-886, 09-10.

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    Keywords

    marketing; competition;

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