©2008 INFORMS A Price Discrimination Model of Trade Promotions

doi 10.1287/mksc.1070.031

COUPONING AS A HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL STRATEGY: THEORY AND EFFECTS

This paper surveys developments in analytical models and empirical findings concerning the strategic use of manufacturers' coupons for U.S. grocery products. Traditional theories examine the horizontal effects of coupons as a strategy to charge various classes of consumers different prices. Recent developments focus on the use of coupons in manufacturer-retailer vertical competition. The paper provides data on trends in couponing: numbers, face values, redemption rates, total promotional costs, and international usage. The paper further analyses the effective price discounts provided by coupons across brands and segments of ready-to-eat cereals during 1992-1995.Coupons, sales strategies, vertical competition, food products, ready-to-eat cereals., Industrial Organization, Marketing,

A Market Experiment on Trade Promotion Budget and Allocation

We design a market experiment to examine how firm size and ability to choose trade promotion types influence trade promotion budget, its allocation and channel profits. Our experimental results show that larger manufacturers offer smaller trade promotion budgets. Manufacturers with ability to influence the allocation decision favor scan-backs while retailers favor off-invoices. Trade promotion decisions affect profit sharing within the channel but not total channel profit. We validate these findings with an econometric analysis of survey data from supermarket executives. Overall, our results suggest that market experiments can shed light on trade promotion outcomes for which industry data are sparse.trade promotion, market experiments, Marketing,

$1000 Cash Back: Asymmetric Information in Auto Manufaturer Promotions

Automobile manufacturers make frequent use of promotions that give cash-back payments. Two common types of cash-back promotions are rebates to customers, which are widely publicized to potential customers, and discounts to dealers, which are not publicized. While the payments nominally go entirely to one party or the other, the real division of the manufacturer-supplied surplus between dealer and customer depends on what price the two parties negotiate. These two types of promotions thus form a natural experiment of the effect of information asymmetry on bargaining outcomes: in the customer rebate case, the parties are symmetrically informed about the availability of the manufacturer-supplied surplus, while in the dealer discount case, the dealer will generally have an informational advantage. The aim of this paper is to compare, in appropriate settings and with appropriate controls, the price outcomes of transactions conducted under these two types of promotions in order to empirically quantify the effect of this information asymmetry. We show that customers obtain approximately 80% of the surplus in cases when they are likely to be well-informed about the promotion (customer rebate), and approximately 35% when they are likely to be uninformed (dealer discount). For a promotion of average size, this difference translates to customers being worse off by $500 when they do not know that the promotion is being offered.

Smart Pricing: Linking Pricing Decisions with Operational Insights

The past decade has seen a virtual explosion of information about customers and their preferences. This information potentially allows companies to increase their revenues, in particular since modern technology enables price changes to be effected at minimal cost. At the same time, companies have taken major strides in understanding and managing the dynamics of the supply chain, both their internal operations and their relationships with supply chain partners. These two developments are narrowly intertwined. Pricing decisions have a direct effect on operations and visa versa. Yet, the systematic integration of operational and marketing insights is in an emerging stage, both in academia and in business practice. This article reviews a number of key linkages between pricing and operations. In particular, it highlights different drivers for dynamic pricing strategies. Through the discussion of key references and related software developments we aim to provide a snapshot into a rich and evolving field.supply chain management;inventory;capacity;dynamic pricing;operations-marketing interface

The Economics of Privacy

This chapter reviews economic analyses of privacy. We begin by scrutinizing the “free market” critique of privacy regulation. Welfare may be non-monotone in the quantity of information, hence there may be excessive incentive to collect information. This result applies to both non-productive and productive information. Over-investment is exacerbated to the extent that personal information is exploited across markets. Further, the “free market” critique does not apply to overt and covert collection of information that directly causes harm. We then review research on property rights and challenges in determining their optimal allocation. We conclude with insights from recent empirical research and directions for future research.

A benefit congruency framework of sales promotion effectiveness

Are monetary savings the only explanation for consumer response to a sales promotion ? If not, how do the different consumer benefits of a sales promotion influence its effectiveness ? To address the first question, this research builds a framework of the multiple consumer benefits of a sales promotion. Through a series of measurement studies, we find that monetary and non-monetary promotions provide consumers with different levels of three hedonic benefits (opportunities for value-expression, entertainment, and exploration), and three utilitarian benefits (savings, higher product quality, and improved shopping convenience). To address the second question, this research develops a benefit congruency framework which argues that a sales promotion's effectiveness is determined by the utilitarian or hedonic nature of the benefits it delivers, and the congruence these benefits have with the promoted product. Among other results, two choice experiments show that as predicted for high-equity brands, monetary promotions are more effective for utilitarian products than for hedonic products. We then discuss the implications the multi-benefit and the benefit congruency frameworks have for understanding consumer responses to sales promotions, for the debate about the value of everyday-low-price policies, and for designing more effective sales promotions.Sales promotions; consumer benefit; benefit congruency

THE DETERMINANTS OF COUPON DISCOUNTS FOR BREAKFAST CEREALS

This study identifies the determinants of coupon values at the brand level using a framework developed from price discrimination theory and the principles of demand. Couponing is considered within the context of a complex marketing program in which it is coordinated with other non-price promotional strategies. A simultaneous, two-equation, fixed-effects, panel-data model is specified and fitted with data on household purchases of ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereals between 1992 and 1997. The empirical model accounts for the bi-directional causality between brand prices and discount levels and captures the retail effects of the major cereal maker's price cuts and discount reductions that occurred in 1996. Higher brand prices cause coupon values to rise, supporting the hypothesis that cereal makers price discriminate among consumers. Other non-price promotions, including advertising, store flyers, and in-store displays, appear to be coordinated with couponing. Specifically, coupon values fall with more intense advertising and in-store displays but rise when the couponed products are featured in store flyers. Discount levels are positively related to brand market share and the size of discounts that are redeemed for rival cereals. Moreover, coupon values fall with increasing brand loyalty among RTE cereal purchasers. Cereal prices are positively affected by coupon values, advertising expenditures, food-ingredient and packaging costs, and the prices of competing brands. Inventory levels are negatively correlated with brand price. Employee wages were not found to significantly influence cereal prices.Marketing,