Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Literature review
3. Basic model
4. Decentralized scenario within a cooperative advertising program
5. Integrated scenario
6. Supply chain coordination
7. Conclusion
Acknowledgment
Appendix.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Research Data
References
Abstract
Firms in the consumer electronics industry frequently launch new styles of their products, which leads to a “twoperiod” phenomenon in their product sales. Only a few published articles have considered two-period models in cooperative advertising. This paper investigates co-op advertising strategies in a two-period supply chain consisting of a single manufacturer and a single retailer. Utilizing game theory, we consider two different scenarios: a decentralized scenario with a cooperative advertising program and an integrated scenario. Aside from these scenarios, we propose a supply chain contract to coordinate this supply chain system. This paper has the following conclusions: (i) the manufacturer usually does not provide the same advertising subsidy strategy for the two generation products in the same period; (ii) the manufacturer may provide a low subsidy rate to the retailer if the advertising long-term effect is strong; and (iii) we demonstrate that the two-way subsidy contract can achieve a perfect supply chain coordination if a transfer payment exists.
Introduction
As consumer demands change rapidly and science and technology continuously develop, the competition among firms is becoming fiercer, particularly in the consumer electronics (e.g., mobile phones, personal computer) industry. Consumer electronics have been constantly upgraded. As Samsung Executive Deputy President Ravinder Zutshi said, “No product has a life cycle of more than 12 months.” Most mobile phone producers update their products within a year. For instance, Apple, Inc. launched the iPhone 4 in June 2010, and from then on, Apple, Inc. consecutively launched the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, and iPhone XS in the subsequent eight years. Apple, Inc. usually releases a new style in September each year. As the new product comes to market, previous products are gradually phased out of the market. Firms in the consumer electronics industry frequently launch new styles of their products, which leads to a “two-period” phenomenon in product sales. The first period is a product’s normal selling time, which is from the time a new product is launched into the market to the period that a newer-generation product appears in the market. The second period is a product’s last salvage time, which is from the time that a newer-generation product appears in the market to the time this product exits the market. For instance, Apple, Inc. launched the iPhone 8 in September 2017, and the iPhone XS was launched in September 2018. For the iPhone 8, the first period is from September 2017 to September 2018, and the second period is from September 2018 to the present. In the two periods of product sales, different marketing tools are applied. For instance, Apple, Inc. usually does not do discounts during the product’s regular selling season, while it tends to adopt price promotion when a new generation product is about to be released (Farfan, 2017).