기업간 브랜드 품질의 차이를 고려하여 소비자들의 반복적인 전환가입과 기업의 가격전략 선택을 수평적 차별화 모형을 통해 분석한다. 분석을 통해 반복적인 전환가입의 고려가 경쟁을 완화하고 죄수의 딜레마 상황을 회피시키는 경향이 있다는 기존 결과를 좀 더 일반적인 상황에서 재검증 하였다. 또한 가격차별 하에서 다양한 가격전략들이 사용될 수 있음을 보인다. 기업간 브랜드 품질의 차이에도 불구하고 전환가입자에게 적용되는 두 기업의 가격 수준은 동일할 수 있으며, 브랜드 품질 차이의 수준에 따라 열위기업은 충성가입자 할인과 전환가입자 할인의 두가지 전략을 선택적으로 결정하게 된다. 브랜드 품질 차이가 클 경우 열위기업은 자사의 충성가입자들에 대해서도 경쟁사 대비 저가격전략을 사용하는 가격역전 현상이 발생할 수 있다.
This paper adopts behavior-based price discrimination for situations in which a firm price-discriminates between its own customers and its rival`s customers. This phenomenon exists in various subscription markets: cable televisions, long distance telephone and mobile communications, internet services, newspapers, and magazines. In these specific markets, consumers are wise enough to repetitively re-switch to earn price discounts and/or rebates from existing provider(s). However, past studies were not able to consider the concept of consumer repetitive reswitching. Under some circumstances, consumers are willing to decrease their surpluses in the current period by switching, because they want to get a discount in the next period by re-switching. Therefore, firms should consider the consumers` switching over a number of periods. Furthermore, most previous studies assume that all firms were given the option to choose one out of the two given strategies: the pay-to-switch or pay-to-stay strategy. Therefore, those studies did not deal with the choice of pricing strategy. In this study, we assume that firms` choice of strategy can be one of pay-to-switch and pay-to-stay. The model in this study also assumes asymmetry in brand quality between firms. When we consider consumers` repetitive re-switching and the choice of pricing strategy, asymmetry between firms can give various impacts on equilibrium, and assuming asymmetry can reflect the real world better. Considering these aspects, a two-period linear-city model is developed combined with asymmetry in brand quality. In case of uniform pricing, two firms determine their regular prices non-cooperatively and simultaneously to maximize total future discounted profits at the beginning of each period. However, in case of price discrimination, two firms determine their regular prices as well as prices for ``switchers.`` A firm`s switchers are the consumers who had chosen its rival`s product previously and who choose its product in the current period. In this case, the regular prices are the price for the ``stayers`` who remain with the firm that they chose in the previous period. In the model, firms have different brand quality and this means firms are asymmetric. The ``superior firm`` is a firm which has relatively higher brand quality, and the other firm, which has the relatively lower brand quality, is called the ``inferior firm.`` If asymmetry increases, more consumers prefer the superior firm`s product. The discount factor which defines how much firms discount future values is also assumed. However, with regard to this model, it also means whether or not consumers` re-switching aspect is being considered. If the discount factor is zero, firms consider only one period, and consumers` re-switching is not considered. As discount factor becomes larger, firms consider more about consumers` re-switching aspect. By analyzing the model, various interesting aspects of equilibrium can be found. With respect to price discrimination, four characteristics should be scrutinized. First, the increase of the discount factor raises all the prices (i.e., alleviates the competition). Second, the increase of the discount factor neutralizes (exacerbates) asymmetry in their brand qualities in the switcher-market (stayer-market). Neutralized asymmetry means that the price gap between superior and inferior firms become lower. In the extreme case, both firms` prices for switchers are the same. Third, the superior firm`s strategy is always pay-to-switch. However, the inferior firm`s strategy can be pay-to-stay if asymmetry in brand quality and the discount factor are high. This means that poaching competition does not always result in a discount for switchers. In some cases, a firm should give a discount to its stayers to maintain them. Fourth, the inferior firm has to set a lower regular price than the superior firm`s price for switchers if asymmetry in brand quality is serious. If stayers of the inferior firm are composed of loyal consumers, this does not happen. However, when asymmetry in brand quality is serious, the inferior firm should encourage non-loyal consumers to stay by giving them a lower regular price. Comparing the equilibrium between uniform pricing and price discrimination, three propositions are presented. First, all the prices except the price for stayers of the superior firm in price discrimination are lower than the prices in uniform pricing. The condition for the case where the price for stayers of the superior firm in price discrimination is higher than that in uniform pricing is very restrictive. Therefore, this result means that price discrimination exacerbates competition. However, a higher discount factor, offered in consideration of consumer`s re-switching`, soothes this effect. Second, in both cases, the inferior firm`s market share is lower than that of the superior firm, and price discrimination aggravates asymmetry in terms of market share. Third, the profit of the inferior firm in price discrimination is lower than that in uniform pricing. However, the profit of the superior firm can be higher in price discrimination specifically when asymmetry in brand quality is very high. Summing second and third results, the impact of exacerbated competition is asymmetric. The inferior firm`s market share and profit always decrease when price discrimination is introduced. However, the superior firm always acquires a greater market share and sometimes earns more profit when price discrimination is introduced. Summing these results, when consumer re-switching is considered, the possibility of a prisoner`s dilemma in price discrimination is lowered. The superior firm can offer a higher price and earn more profit than when it can with uniform pricing. It is because the impact of price discrimination on profit is asymmetric and consideration of consumers` repetitive re-switching lowers the level of competition even though price discrimination in itself exacerbates competition. Moreover, the model shows that the choice of price strategy, the pay-to-switch strategy or pay-to-stay strategy, can be determined by the degree of asymmetry between firms and discount factors. These results explain various situations in real market and provides many implications for management. However, our model abstracts the real world; hence, various extensions should be considered. Although firms use only price for competition in our model, other various tools are used in the real world. For example, in the mobile communications industry, firms use handset subsidies and memberships. Their impact is similar to price discounting but they also have different characteristics. Therefore, the investigation into their different impacts can be meaningful. Moreover, in this model, consumers maximizes the utility of just one period, and relaxing this assumption is also meaningful.