Selling to Strategic Consumers When Product Value Is Uncertain: The Value of Matching Supply and Demand
Selling to Strategic Consumers When Product Value Is Uncertain: The Value of Matching Supply and Demand
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DOI：
10.1287/mnsc.1110.1360
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发表时间：
2011-10-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Swinney, Robert
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Swinney, Robert
当向具有不确定性、异质性的产品估值的具有前瞻性的消费者群体销售产品时，我们强调快速响应生产实践的价值。消费者可以选择在了解产品价值之前提前购买产品，也可以推迟购买决定，直到估值不确定性得到解决。虽然个人消费者的估值事前是不确定的，但市场规模对公司来说是不确定的。公司可以在了解需求之前承诺以低单位成本进行单次生产，或者承诺在了解额外需求信息后允许额外生产的快速响应策略。我们发现，在这种情况下，快速响应对于战略（前瞻性）客户的价值通常低于非战略（短视）客户。事实上，快速反应策略有可能降低公司的利润，尽管这种情况是否发生取决于市场的各种特征；具体来说，我们确定了快速反应会增加利润的条件（当价格上涨时，当不满意的消费者可以以一定成本将产品退回公司时）以及快速反应可能会减少利润的条件（当价格不变或不允许消费者退货时）。
W e address the value of quick response production practices when selling to a forward-looking consumer population with uncertain, heterogeneous valuations for a product. Consumers have the option of purchasing the product early, before its value has been learned, or delaying the purchase decision until a time at which valuation uncertainty has been resolved. Whereas individual consumer valuations are uncertain ex ante, the market size is uncertain to the firm. The firm may either commit to a single production run at a low unit cost prior to learning demand, or commit to a quick response strategy that allows additional production after learning additional demand information. We find that the value of quick response is generally lower with strategic (forward-looking) customers than with nonstrategic (myopic) customers in this setting. Indeed, it is possible for a quick response strategy to decrease the profit of the firm, though whether this occurs depends on various characteristics of the market; specifically, we identify conditions under which quick response increases profit (when prices are increasing, when dissatisfied consumers can return the product at a cost to the firm) and conditions under which quick response may decrease profit (when prices are constant or when consumer returns are not allowed).