In alliances jointly developing product and market, we first investigate how (a) the number of networks competing to develop a product, (b) the number of alternative technology platforms, and (c) market sensitivity to product development expenditures affect investments of partnering firms. We...

This paper explores whether and how a firm should adapt its strategy in view of consumer use of prior customer ratings. Specifically, we consider optimal pricing and whether the firm should offer an unexpected frill to early customers to enhance their product experiences. We show that if price...

This paper studies a model in which consumers search among multiple competing firms for products that match their preferences at a reasonable price. We focus on how easier search, possibly due to the adoption of search-facilitating technologies such as the Internet, influences equilibrium...

We construct a multistage game-theoretic model of advertising and price competition in a differentiated products duopoly, in which proportions of consumers exhibit latent inertia in favor of repeat purchase. Advertising simultaneously plays the dual role in reducing such inertia through...

This paper investigates the competitive market for mass-customized products. Competition leads to surprising conclusions: Manufacturers customize only one of a product's two attributes, and each manufacturer chooses the same attribute. Customization of both attributes cannot persist in an...

This paper studies a manufacturer's optimal decisions on extending its product line when the manufacturer sells through either a centralized channel or a decentralized channel. We show that a manufacturer may provide a longer product line for consumers in a decentralized channel than in a...

In collaborating to compete, firms forge different types of strategic alliances: same-function alliances, parallel development of new products, and cross-functional alliances. A major challenge in the management of these alliances is how to control the resource commitment of partners to the...

The paper offers a comparative analysis of different ways to sell products (selling formats) when buyers incur evaluation costs. Since these costs are sunk at the moment of trade, buyers may refrain from incurring them for fear of later opportunism on the part of sellers. It is found that the...

Conventional wisdom seems to claim that, by lowering the cost of distribution and by making search easier for consumer, the introduction of the Internet is likely to intensify price competition. This paper intends to challenge this view by asking: When and how is the Internet likely to decrease...

This paper demonstrates that increased product differentiation will make it more difficult to sustain collusion when it is costly to coordinate or maintain collusion. This result holds for a wide range of models, including all those commonly used to model competition between differentiated...