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Quality differentiation and firms’ choices between online and physical markets

Author

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  • Chen, Yijuan
  • Hu, Xiangting
  • Li, Sanxi
Abstract
We study firms’ choices between online and physical markets with respect to product quality and competition, and examine consequences of transparency policies on price competition and market structure. We investigate two contrasting forces. First, since consumers cannot fully inspect an online product’s quality prior to purchase, conventional wisdom and some of the literature suggest that this attracts low-quality products to the online market (a pooling effect). On the other hand, the literature on vertical product differentiation indicates that a firm with a lower-quality product may prefer to reveal its product quality in the physical market because quality differentiation helps alleviate price competition (a differentiation effect). We show that an entrant firm with product quality lower than that of the offline incumbent may choose the physical market, whereas the entrant with a quality higher than the incumbent’s may sell online. More generally the two contrasting forces can give rise to a wide range of product quality—from low-end to high-end—in both markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Yijuan & Hu, Xiangting & Li, Sanxi, 2017. "Quality differentiation and firms’ choices between online and physical markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 96-132.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:52:y:2017:i:c:p:96-132
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2017.01.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhenjie Wang & Chunling Zhu & Shanwu Tian & Ping Li, 2019. "Differentiation and pricing power of online retailers," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Han, Haipeng & Lien, Donald & Lien, Jaimie W. & Zheng, Jie, 2022. "Online or face-to-face? Competition among MOOC and regular education providers," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 857-881.
    3. Yijuan Chen & Xiangting Hu & Sanxi Li, 2022. "Complementarity between online and offline channels for quality signaling," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 49-74, January.
    4. Li, Yanran & Li, Bo & Zheng, Wei & Chen, Xue, 2021. "Reveal or hide? Impact of demonstration on pricing decisions considering showrooming behavior," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    5. Hui He & Lilong Zhu, 2020. "Online shopping green product quality supervision strategy with consumer feedback and collusion behavior," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Hillen, J., 2018. "Protecting the Swiss milk market from foreign price shocks: Public border protection vs. quality differentiation," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276015, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Zhang, Zhe & Song, Huaming & Shi, Victor & Yang, Shilei, 2021. "Quality differentiation in a dual-channel supply chain," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 290(3), pages 1000-1013.
    8. Sun, Cuiying & Zhang, Xiong & Zhou, Yong-Wu & Cao, Bin, 2022. "Pricing, financing and channel structure for capital-constrained dual-channel supply chains with product heterogeneity," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    9. Ford, Weixing & Li, Yixiu & Zheng, Jie, 2021. "Numbers of bricks and clicks: Price competition between online and offline stores," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 420-440.
    10. Chen, Jing & Chen, Bintong, 2019. "When should the offline retailer implement price matching?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 277(3), pages 996-1009.
    11. Xiwei,Zhu & Gokan,Toshitaka, 2023. "Competition between heterogenous online and offline firms," IDE Discussion Papers 888, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Online vs. offline competition; Market choices with respect to quality and competition;

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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