網際網路與消費者結構對廠商最適通路設計之影響

Abstract

網路通路使廠商得以低成本接觸到新的消費族群。以國外消費者為例，跨海移動的成本過高，國外消費者較難到實體店面購買。但是當廠商增加網路通路後，可吸引國外愛好者上網購物，拓展國外市場。本文將這類只能透過網路接觸的消費者定義為網購族，研究網購族的存在是否對廠商的通路策略產生關鍵性影響。 本研究以賽局理論模型為研究方法，分析網購族對於獨占廠商目標客群、通路設計與價格策略的影響。本文假設市場上有只有願意在網路通路購物的網購族和可同時在兩種通路購物的雙棲族，各族群內再依消費者使用產品效用的高低，區分為H型消費者和L型消費者。假設廠商生產單一品質產品，消費者只購買一單位產品，若使用實體通路將花費購物成本，使用網路通路則有效用損失。本文以後向歸納法解子賽局完美均衡，得出廠商的最適策略。 本文發現廠商的策略選擇和網路購物族群的人口比例有關，在廠商和消費者皆追求效用極大化的前提下，得出以下結果：（1）網購族的存在使廠商不願意放棄網路通路。原因為網購族無法轉移通路，廠商可在網路通路以高價服務這些族群，使廠商在不需考慮雙棲族誘因相容問題的情況下，增加產品的銷售，故網購族存在會使網路通路成為廠商的必備通路。（2）當實體通路的效率較差時，在廣泛的參數範圍內，網購族的出現會使廠商更傾向放棄實體通路，採用單一網路通路策略服務消費者。（3）廠商扭曲通路效率性的情形可能隨網購族比例增加而加劇或減緩。（4）在網路通路願付價格較低的網購族，是最容易被放棄的族群。L型雙棲族由於可被轉移至較無效率的通路購買，廠商不會輕易放棄該族群。H型雙棲族則由於同時具備願付價格高和可自由轉換通路的能力，是廠商一定會服務的對象。（5）網購族的比例會使網路通路和實體通路價格的相對大小產生變化，H型網購族的比例也會對於通路均衡價格產生影響。

Internet channel let a firm access to foreign market without geographic limitation. It can also help a firm to reach the consumers who are not willing to purchase goods on the brick-and-motor channel. The existence of consumers who only purchase items online may affect the channel strategies of a firm. Some questions are addressed: What is the firms’ optimal targeting, channel, and pricing strategies when some customers only purchase online? How the online shoppers affect firms’ strategies? Should a firm change its marketing strategies when the proportion of online shoppers increases? This paper investigates how online shoppers affect channel strategies of companies which consider channel strategy as a differentiation method. Game theory is used as the methodology. Analysis shows that the optimal strategies hinge on the proportion of each customer groups and the relative degree of customers’ shopping cost toward different channel. The results are as the following. (1) As the existence of online shoppers, firms are often tending to retain Internet channel and discard traditional channel. (2) The firm may use the inefficient channel more or less, depending on the marketing environment. (3) The customers who are high valuation and purchasing at dual channels are always served by the firm, while those who are low valuation and only purchasing online are often abandoned. (4) The proportion of high valuation online shoppers has effect on the pricing strategies. This research depicts the influence of online shoppers and provides marketing management implications for firms to make better channel strategies.