Product Line Optimization for Car-Sharing Platforms in the Sustainable Transportation

As the sharing economy develops in sustainable transportation, car-sharing platforms improve allocation efficiency of idle cars to customers. However, as travel demand increases, and vehicle type becomes various, market faces a new challenge satisfy customers’ diverse needs for quality-differentiated cars. Each customer would like choose right car type, while manufacturing firm e-commerce platform should set price profit maximization. How match platform’s product line with customer’s choice behavior problem all stakeholders economy. From perspective heterogeneity, we establish game-theoretic framework study optimization business-to-consumer (B2C) consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sharing. We solve optimal quality decision pricing strategy In numerical experiments, investigate how sensitivity cost can jointly influence profits transportation. Our findings show that within line, firm’s selling C2C is negatively influenced by sharer’s valuation, B2C independent either buyer’s valuation. give some policy implications scholars, practitioners, policymakers point out limitations recommendations design.