IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i4p1655-d324014.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pricing Decisions for a Sustainable Supply Chain in the Presence of Potential Strategic Customers

Author

Listed:
  • Xinmin Liu

    (College of Economics and Management, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
    School of Management, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China)

  • Kangkang Lin

    (College of Economics and Management, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China)

  • Lei Wang

    (School of Economics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China)

  • Lili Ding

    (School of Economics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China)

Abstract

In service to sustainable development, consumers have begun to prefer green products for their special environmental characteristics, and many enterprises are introducing new products to improve their competitiveness, but this tactic may not work if customers are strategic, as they might choose to defer purchasing decisions while prices are high and wait for lower prices in the future. Considering the differences in purchase behavior, we divided customers into two groups—strategic customers and myopic customers. Furthermore, we distinguished three types of strategic customers according to their different preferences to analyze the optimal pricing and greenness strategies in sustainable supply chain in strategic customer scenarios. Our results led to the following conclusions. (1) Strategic customers’ individual preferences can affect optimum equilibrium and that a higher purchase price threshold can stimulate the manufacturer to improve greenness and set a higher price, while a higher greenness purchase threshold and purchase value threshold will force manufacturer to set a lower price. (2) We observed that strategic customers can increase demand and vender profit. As the number of strategic customers increases, selling price and greenness will experience downward trends in a price threshold scenario but upward trends in greenness threshold and value threshold scenarios. (3) A firm can take measures to mitigate the effects of strategic customers by adjusting price and greenness dynamically according to price and greenness sensitivity, which can play a leading role in actively influencing strategic customer behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Xinmin Liu & Kangkang Lin & Lei Wang & Lili Ding, 2020. "Pricing Decisions for a Sustainable Supply Chain in the Presence of Potential Strategic Customers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1655-:d:324014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1655/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1655/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reza Ahmadi & Foad Iravani & Hamed Mamani, 2017. "Supply Chain Coordination in the Presence of Gray Markets and Strategic Consumers," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(2), pages 252-272, February.
    2. Adam J. Mersereau & Dan Zhang, 2012. "Markdown Pricing with Unknown Fraction of Strategic Customers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 355-370, July.
    3. Martín-Herrán, Guiomar & Taboubi, Sihem, 2015. "Price coordination in distribution channels: A dynamic perspective," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(2), pages 401-414.
    4. Yen-Ting Lin & Ali K. Parlaktürk & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2018. "Are Strategic Customers Bad for a Supply Chain?," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 481-497, July.
    5. Zhang, Linghong & Wang, Jingguo & You, Jianxin, 2015. "Consumer environmental awareness and channel coordination with two substitutable products," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 241(1), pages 63-73.
    6. Ilan Lobel & Jigar Patel & Gustavo Vulcano & Jiawei Zhang, 2016. "Optimizing Product Launches in the Presence of Strategic Consumers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(6), pages 1778-1799, June.
    7. Liu, Zugang (Leo) & Anderson, Trisha D. & Cruz, Jose M., 2012. "Consumer environmental awareness and competition in two-stage supply chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 218(3), pages 602-613.
    8. Yossi Aviv & Andrei Bazhanov & Yuri Levin & Mikhail Nediak, 2017. "Quantity Competition When Most Favored Customers are Strategic," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(11), pages 2107-2121, November.
    9. Guo, Pengfei & Hassin, Refael, 2012. "Strategic behavior and social optimization in Markovian vacation queues: The case of heterogeneous customers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(2), pages 278-286.
    10. Ghosh, Debabrata & Shah, Janat, 2015. "Supply chain analysis under green sensitive consumer demand and cost sharing contract," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 319-329.
    11. Gérard P. Cachon & Pnina Feldman, 2015. "Price Commitments with Strategic Consumers: Why It Can Be Optimal to Discount More Frequently … Than Optimal," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 399-410, July.
    12. Iris, Çağatay & Christensen, Jonas & Pacino, Dario & Ropke, Stefan, 2018. "Flexible ship loading problem with transfer vehicle assignment and scheduling," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 113-134.
    13. Alipranti, Maria & Milliou, Chrysovalantou & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2014. "Price vs. quantity competition in a vertically related market," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 122-126.
    14. Tobias Hahn & Jonatan Pinkse & Lutz Preuss & Frank Figge, 2015. "Tensions in Corporate Sustainability: Towards an Integrative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 297-316, March.
    15. Chao Liang & Metin Çakanyildirim & Suresh P. Sethi, 2018. "Can Strategic Customer Behavior Speed Up Product Innovation?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 27(8), pages 1516-1533, August.
    16. Fei Gao & Xuanming Su, 2017. "Omnichannel Retail Operations with Buy-Online-and-Pick-up-in-Store," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(8), pages 2478-2492, August.
    17. Wang, Xinchang & Meng, Qiang, 2019. "Optimal price decisions for joint ventures between port operators and shipping lines under the congestion effect," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 273(2), pages 695-707.
    18. Du, Jie & Zhang, Juliang & Hua, Guowei, 2015. "Pricing and inventory management in the presence of strategic customers with risk preference and decreasing value," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 160-166.
    19. Xuanming Su & Fuqiang Zhang, 2008. "Strategic Customer Behavior, Commitment, and Supply Chain Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(10), pages 1759-1773, October.
    20. Marcus Brandenburg & Tim Gruchmann & Nelly Oelze, 2019. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management—A Conceptual Framework and Future Research Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-15, December.
    21. Chen, Xi & Zhang, Hui & Zhang, Michael & Chen, Jing, 2017. "Optimal decisions in a retailer Stackelberg supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 260-270.
    22. Yossi Aviv & Amit Pazgal, 2008. "Optimal Pricing of Seasonal Products in the Presence of Forward-Looking Consumers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 339-359, December.
    23. M. López & Arminda Garcia & Lazaro Rodriguez, 2007. "Sustainable Development and Corporate Performance: A Study Based on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(3), pages 285-300, October.
    24. Stephen Shum & Shilu Tong & Tingting Xiao, 2017. "On the Impact of Uncertain Cost Reduction When Selling to Strategic Customers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(3), pages 843-860, March.
    25. Dae-Hee Yoon, 2016. "Supplier Encroachment and Investment Spillovers," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 25(11), pages 1839-1854, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Izabela Nielsen & Sani Majumder & Eryk Szwarc & Subrata Saha, 2020. "Impact of Strategic Cooperation under Competition on Green Product Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-28, December.
    2. Cong Wang & Zongbao Zou & Shidao Geng, 2021. "Green Technology Investment in a Decentralized Supply Chain under Demand Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Safinaz H. Abourokbah & Reem M. Mashat & Mohammad Asif Salam, 2023. "Role of Absorptive Capacity, Digital Capability, Agility, and Resilience in Supply Chain Innovation Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-25, February.
    4. Hotlan Siagian & Zeplin Jiwa Husada Tarigan & Ferry Jie, 2021. "Supply Chain Integration Enables Resilience, Flexibility, and Innovation to Improve Business Performance in COVID-19 Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, April.
    5. Mark Anthony Camilleri & Livio Cricelli & Roberto Mauriello & Serena Strazzullo, 2023. "Consumer Perceptions of Sustainable Products: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ling Zhao & Anquan Zou & Minghua Xiong & Jun Liu, 2023. "Supply Chain Performance with a Downside-Risk-Averse Retailer and Strategic Customers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Liu, Jingchen & Zhai, Xin & Chen, Lihua, 2018. "The interaction between product rollover strategy and pricing scheme," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 116-135.
    3. Liu, Jingchen & Zhai, Xin & Chen, Lihua, 2019. "Optimal pricing strategy under trade-in program in the presence of strategic consumers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1-17.
    4. Wang, Hua & Dong, Dayong & Guan, Zhenzhong & Bai, Chunguang, 2021. "The impact of quantity commitment with disappointment-averse and elation-seeking consumers," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 584(C).
    5. Yiangos Papanastasiou & Nicos Savva, 2017. "Dynamic Pricing in the Presence of Social Learning and Strategic Consumers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(4), pages 919-939, April.
    6. Qiao Zhang & Jianxiong Zhang & Wansheng Tang, 2017. "Coordinating a supply chain with green innovation in a dynamic setting," 4OR, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 133-162, June.
    7. Hao, Zhaowei & Qi, Wei & Gong, Tianxiao & Chen, Lihua & Shen, Zuo-Jun Max, 2019. "Innovation uncertainty, new product press timing and strategic consumers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 122-135.
    8. Chen, Wenbo, 2018. "Retailer-driven carbon emission abatement with consumer environmental awareness and carbon tax: Revenue-sharing versus Cost-sharingAuthor-Name: Yang, Huixiao," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 179-191.
    9. Yiwei Chen & Vivek F. Farias, 2018. "Robust Dynamic Pricing with Strategic Customers," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 43(4), pages 1119-1142, November.
    10. Arian Aflaki & Pnina Feldman & Robert Swinney, 2019. "Becoming Strategic: Endogenous Consumer Time Preferences and Multiperiod Pricing," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 68(4), pages 1116-1131, July.
    11. Fei Gao & Xuanming Su, 2017. "Manufacturing & Service Operations Management," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 84-98, February.
    12. Kuang, Yunjuan & Ng, Chi To, 2018. "Pricing substitutable products under consumer regrets," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 286-300.
    13. Khouja, Moutaz & Li, Yuefeng & Zhou, Jing, 2023. "Nonlinear pricing for yield management and countering strategic consumer behavior," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(1), pages 212-232.
    14. Weizhe Yang & Yaozhong Wu & Qinglong Gou & Wen Zhang, 2023. "Co‐opetition strategies in supply chains with strategic customers," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(1), pages 319-334, January.
    15. Huang, Lingchen & Huang, Zongsheng & Liu, Bin, 2022. "Interacting with strategic waiting for store brand: Online selling format selection," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    16. Xu, Jian & Duan, Yongrui, 2020. "Pricing, ordering, and quick response for online sellers in the presence of consumer disappointment aversion," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    17. Wu, Meng & Ran, Yun & Zhu, Stuart X., 2022. "Optimal pricing strategy: How to sell to strategic consumers?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    18. Deyan Yang & Jinyong Wang & Dongping Song, 2019. "Channel Structure Strategies of Supply Chains with Varying Green Cost and Governmental Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, December.
    19. Li, Jin & Hu, Zening & Shi, Victor & Wang, Qian, 2021. "Manufacturer's encroachment strategy with substitutable green products," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    20. Chen Tian & Tiaojun Xiao, 2017. "Profit of a Supply Chain versus its Decentralization in the Presence of Strategic Customers," International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making (IJITDM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(06), pages 1647-1670, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1655-:d:324014. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.