[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v56y2010i3p430-448.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Revenue Management with Strategic Customers: Last-Minute Selling and Opaque Selling

Author

Listed:
  • Kinshuk Jerath

    (Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

  • Serguei Netessine

    (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104)

  • Senthil K. Veeraraghavan

    (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104)

Abstract
Companies in a variety of industries (e.g., airlines, hotels, theaters) often use last-minute sales to dispose of unsold capacity. Although this may generate incremental revenues in the short term, the long-term consequences of such a strategy are not immediately obvious: More discounted last-minute tickets may lead to more consumers anticipating the discount and delaying the purchase rather than buying at the regular (higher) prices, hence potentially reducing revenues for the company. To mitigate such behavior, many service providers have turned to opaque intermediaries, such as Hotwire.com, that hide many descriptive attributes of the service (e.g., departure times for airline tickets) so that the buyer cannot fully predict the ultimate service provider. Using a stylized economic model, this paper attempts to explain and compare the benefits of last-minute sales directly to consumers versus through an opaque intermediary. We utilize the notion of rational expectations to model consumer purchasing decisions: Consumers make early purchase decisions based on expectations regarding future availability, and these expectations are correct in equilibrium. We show that direct last-minute sales are preferred over selling through an opaque intermediary when consumer valuations for travel are high or there is little service differentiation between competing service providers, or both; otherwise, opaque selling dominates. Moreover, contrary to the usual belief that such sales are purely mechanisms for disposal of unused capacity, we show that opaque selling becomes more preferred over direct last-minute selling as the probability of having high demand increases. When firms randomize between opaque selling and last-minute selling strategies, they are increasingly likely to choose the opaque selling strategy as the probability of high demand increases. When firms with unequal capacities use the opaque selling strategy, consumers know more clearly where the opaque ticket is from and the efficacy of opaque selling decreases.

Suggested Citation

  • Kinshuk Jerath & Serguei Netessine & Senthil K. Veeraraghavan, 2010. "Revenue Management with Strategic Customers: Last-Minute Selling and Opaque Selling," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(3), pages 430-448, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:56:y:2010:i:3:p:430-448
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1090.1125
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1090.1125
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.1090.1125?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diamond, Peter & Fudenberg, Drew, 1989. "Rational Expectations Business Cycles in Search Equilibrium," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 606-619, June.
    2. Wilfred Amaldoss & Sanjay Jain, 2008. "—Trading Up: A Strategic Analysis of Reference Group Effects," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 932-942, 09-10.
    3. Oded Koenigsberg & Eitan Muller & Naufel Vilcassim, 2008. "easyJet® pricing strategy: Should low-fare airlines offer last-minute deals?," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 279-297, September.
    4. Qian Liu & Garrett J. van Ryzin, 2008. "Strategic Capacity Rationing to Induce Early Purchases," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(6), pages 1115-1131, June.
    5. Serguei Netessine & Robert A. Shumsky, 2005. "Revenue Management Games: Horizontal and Vertical Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(5), pages 813-831, May.
    6. Patrick DeGraba, 1995. "Buying Frenzies and Seller-Induced Excess Demand," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 26(2), pages 331-342, Summer.
    7. David Besanko & Wayne L. Winston, 1990. "Optimal Price Skimming by a Monopolist Facing Rational Consumers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(5), pages 555-567, May.
    8. Pascal Courty & Li Hao, 2000. "Sequential Screening," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 67(4), pages 697-717.
    9. Brian Kahin & Hal R. Varian (ed.), 2000. "Internet Publishing and Beyond: The Economics of Digital Information and Intellectual Property," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262611597, April.
    10. Sunder, S., 1992. "Experimental Asset Markets: A Survey," GSIA Working Papers 1992-19, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
    11. Raymond J. Deneckere & R. Preston McAfee, 1996. "Damaged Goods," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 149-174, June.
    12. Rui Yin & Yossi Aviv & Amit Pazgal & Christopher S. Tang, 2009. "Optimal Markdown Pricing: Implications of Inventory Display Formats in the Presence of Strategic Customers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(8), pages 1391-1408, August.
    13. Yuri Levin & Jeff McGill & Mikhail Nediak, 2009. "Dynamic Pricing in the Presence of Strategic Consumers and Oligopolistic Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 32-46, January.
    14. Gérard P. Cachon & Robert Swinney, 2009. "Purchasing, Pricing, and Quick Response in the Presence of Strategic Consumers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(3), pages 497-511, March.
    15. Wilfred Amaldoss & Sanjay Jain, 2005. "Conspicuous Consumption and Sophisticated Thinking," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(10), pages 1449-1466, October.
    16. Dmitry Shapiro & Xianwen Shi, 2008. "Market Segmentation: The Role of Opaque Travel Agencies," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(4), pages 803-837, December.
    17. Guoming Lai & Laurens G. Debo & Katia Sycara, 2010. "Buy Now and Match Later: Impact of Posterior Price Matching on Profit with Strategic Consumers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 33-55, December.
    18. Smith, Vernon L & Suchanek, Gerry L & Williams, Arlington W, 1988. "Bubbles, Crashes, and Endogenous Expectations in Experimental Spot Asset Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(5), pages 1119-1151, September.
    19. Christian Terwiesch & Sergei Savin & Il-Horn Hann, 2005. "Online Haggling at a Name-Your-Own-Price Retailer: Theory and Application," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(3), pages 339-351, March.
    20. Scott Fay & Jinhong Xie, 2008. "Probabilistic Goods: A Creative Way of Selling Products and Services," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 674-690, 07-08.
    21. V. Kasturi Rangan & Andris A. Zoltners & Robert J. Becker, 1986. "The Channel Intermediary Selection Decision: A Model and an Application," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(9), pages 1114-1122, September.
    22. Nancy L. Stokey, 1981. "Rational Expectations and Durable Goods Pricing," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(1), pages 112-128, Spring.
    23. Barry C. Smith & Ross Darrow & John Elieson & Dirk Guenther & B. Venkateshwara Rao & Faker Zouaoui, 2007. "Travelocity Becomes a Travel Retailer," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 37(1), pages 68-81, February.
    24. Jinhong Xie & Steven M. Shugan, 2001. "Electronic Tickets, Smart Cards, and Online Prepayments: When and How to Advance Sell," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 219-243, June.
    25. Nancy L. Stokey, 1979. "Intertemporal Price Discrimination," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(3), pages 355-371.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Chang Hwan Lee & Tsan‐Ming Choi & T.C.E. Cheng, 2015. "Selling to strategic and loss‐averse consumers: Stocking, procurement, and product design policies," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(6), pages 435-453, September.
    2. Gérard P. Cachon, 2020. "A Research Framework for Business Models: What Is Common Among Fast Fashion, E-Tailing, and Ride Sharing?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1172-1192, March.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Kenan Arifoğlu & Sarang Deo & Seyed M. R. Iravani, 2020. "Markdowns in Seasonal Conspicuous Goods," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(5), pages 1016-1029, September.
    6. Qian Liu & Dan Zhang, 2013. "Dynamic Pricing Competition with Strategic Customers Under Vertical Product Differentiation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 84-101, August.
    7. Necati Tereyagoglu & Senthil Veeraraghavan, 2012. "Selling to Conspicuous Consumers: Pricing, Production, and Sourcing Decisions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(12), pages 2168-2189, December.
    8. Vincent Mak & Amnon Rapoport & Eyran J. Gisches & Jiaojie Han, 2014. "Purchasing Scarce Products Under Dynamic Pricing: An Experimental Investigation," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 425-438, July.
    9. Ali K. Parlaktürk, 2012. "The Value of Product Variety When Selling to Strategic Consumers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 371-385, July.
    10. Hou, Lihua & Nie, Tengfei & Zhang, Jianghua, 2024. "Pricing and inventory strategies for perishable products in a competitive market considering strategic consumers," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    11. Dror Hermel & Benny Mantin, 2018. "Selling to strategic consumers: on the benefits of consumers’ valuation uncertainty and abundant inventory," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(3), pages 146-165, June.
    12. Benny Mantin & Eran Rubin, 2016. "Fare Prediction Websites and Transaction Prices: Empirical Evidence from the Airline Industry," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(4), pages 640-655, July.
    13. Cuihong Li & Fuqiang Zhang, 2013. "Advance Demand Information, Price Discrimination, and Preorder Strategies," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 57-71, September.
    14. Yossi Aviv & Mike Mingcheng Wei & Fuqiang Zhang, 2019. "Responsive Pricing of Fashion Products: The Effects of Demand Learning and Strategic Consumer Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 2982-3000, July.
    15. 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).
    16. 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.
    17. Dong, Junfeng & Wu, Desheng Dash, 2019. "Two-period pricing and quick response with strategic customers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 165-173.
    18. Mohammed Al-Hitmi & Salman Ahmad & Atif Iqbal & Sanjeevikumar Padmanaban & Imtiaz Ashraf, 2018. "Selective Harmonic Elimination in a Wide Modulation Range Using Modified Newton–Raphson and Pattern Generation Methods for a Multilevel Inverter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-16, February.
    19. Gérard P. P. Cachon & Pnina Feldman, 2017. "Is Advance Selling Desirable with Competition?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(2), pages 214-231, March.
    20. 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.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:56:y:2010:i:3:p:430-448. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.