We examine the profitability and implications of online discount vouchers, a relatively new marketing tool that offers consumers large discounts when they prepay for participating firms’ goods and services. Within a model of repeat experience good purchase, we examine two mechanisms whereby a discount voucher service can benefit affiliated firms: price discrimination and advertising. For vouche...

Over the past two decades a number of Chinese companies have issued shares on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and on one of the Chinese stock exchanges. The Hong Kong-listed H-shares of Chinese dual-listed companies have traded at a persistent discount rate relative to the China-listed A-shares. As these shares represent the same ownership rights and cash flows, the shares should theoreticall...

This paper evaluates the impact of price discount contracts and pricing schemes on the dual-channel supply chain competition. Channel conflict occurs when the supplier enters the online direct channel. Traditional contracts normally require tedious administrational participation, full information of the cost structures, and other factors. The introduction of simple price discount contracts aims...

When collusive agreements are illegal, oligopolies must rely on the threat of future price wars to sustain collusion. If firms’ objective is to maximize the present value of profits, the shadow of that threat changes with the interest rate. That is, the interest rate determines how much firms discount the future, and this affects the level of collusion that can be supported. In an environment o...

OBJECTIVES To examine the efficacy of alternative approaches for shifting consumers toward zero calorie beverages. We examined the effect of price discounts and novel presentations of calorie information on sales of beverages. METHODS This prospective interrupted time-series quasi-experiment included three sites in Philadelphia, PA, Evanston, IL, and Detroit, MI. Each site received five inter...

BACKGROUND Many patients even those with health insurance pay out-of-pocket for medicines. We investigated the availability and prices of essential medicines in the Boston area. METHODS Using the WHO/HAI methodology, availability and undiscounted price data for both originator brand (OB) and lowest price generic (LPG) equivalent versions of 25 essential medicines (14 prescription; 11 over-the...

OBJECTIVE To examine cigarette purchasing patterns of current smokers and to determine the effects of cigarette price on use of cheaper sources, discount/generic cigarettes, and coupons. BACKGROUND Higher cigarette prices result in decreased cigarette consumption, but price sensitive smokers may seek lower priced or tax-free cigarette sources, especially if they are readily available. This pr...

This study focuses on consumer responses to two different types of price discounts: 1) a price discount with and 2) a price discount without a minimum purchase requirement. The effects of the discounts are examined to the extent that they may change consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions regarding a particular brand, by moving it from consumers' hold set to consideration set. A three-phas...

T This paper analyzes different pricing strategies in a two-echelon supply chain including one supplier and two retailers. The supplier and the retailers face random yield and random demand, respectively. Moreover, coordination or non-coordination of retailers in receiving the discount is investigated. Game theory is used to model and analyze the problems. The supplier as a leader of Stackelbe...