IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormksc/v24y2005i1p110-122.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A General Theory of Pass-Through in Channels with Category Management and Retail Competition

Author

Listed:
  • Sridhar Moorthy

    (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, 105 Street George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6, Canada)

Abstract

I provide a general formulation of the channel pass-through problem as a comparative static of the retail price equilibrium, and I analyze the impact of category management and retail competition on pass-through, focusing on brand and retailer differences, and the nature of the cost change being passed through—whether it is brand specific, retailer specific, both, or neither. With category management, a retailer's response to a brand-specific cost change is not limited to that brand; in general, a retailer will also change the prices of other brands. The cross-brand effect can be positive or negative, and, depending on its sign, it either enhances or attenuates pass-through. I explain the cross-brand effect as an interaction between two forces: a demand-substitution force that pushes for a negative cross-brand effect, and a strategic-complementarity force that pushes for a positive cross-brand effect. Retail competition adds another layer of strategic complementarity, causing other retailers to respond even for retailer-specific cost changes and increasing pass-through of categorywide cost changes. But its effect for brand-specific cost changes is ambiguous. I apply the theory to two commonly used demand functions—linear demand and nested logit—and show that they have significantly different pass-through properties. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the theory relates to the empirical literature, including the companion piece by Besanko et al. (Besanko, D., J-P. Dubé, S. Gupta. 2005. Own-brand and cross-brand retail pass-through. (1) 123–137.)

Suggested Citation

  • Sridhar Moorthy, 2005. "A General Theory of Pass-Through in Channels with Category Management and Retail Competition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 110-122, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:24:y:2005:i:1:p:110-122
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1030.0053
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1030.0053
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mksc.1030.0053?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. K. Sridhar Moorthy, 1988. "Strategic Decentralization in Channels," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 335-355.
    2. Cotterill, Ronald W & Putsis, William P, Jr & Dhar, Ravi, 2000. "Assessing the Competitive Interaction between Private Labels and National Brands," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(1), pages 109-137, January.
    3. Banks, Jeffrey & Moorthy, Sridhar, 1999. "A model of price promotions with consumer search," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 371-398, April.
    4. K. Sudhir & Vrinda Kadiyali & Vithala R. Rao, 2001. "Structural Analysis of Manufacturer Pricing in the Presence of a Strategic Retailer," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm229, Yale School of Management.
    5. Minakshi Trivedi, 1998. "Distribution Channels: An Extension of Exclusive Retailership," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(7), pages 896-909, July.
    6. Varian, Hal R, 1980. "A Model of Sales," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(4), pages 651-659, September.
    7. Ram C. Rao & Ramesh V. Arjunji & B. P. S. Murthi, 1995. "Game Theory and Empirical Generalizations Concerning Competitive Promotions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(3_supplem), pages 89-100.
    8. Rajiv Lal & J. Miguel Villas-Boas, 1998. "Price Promotions and Trade Deals with Multiproduct Retailers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(7), pages 935-949, July.
    9. K. Sudhir, 2001. "Structural Analysis of Manufacturer Pricing in the Presence of a Strategic Retailer," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 244-264, October.
    10. Sundaram,Rangarajan K., 1996. "A First Course in Optimization Theory," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521497190, October.
    11. John Conlisk & Eitan Gerstner & Joel Sobel, 1984. "Cyclic Pricing by a Durable Goods Monopolist," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 99(3), pages 489-505.
    12. Ganesh Iyer, 1998. "Coordinating Channels Under Price and Nonprice Competition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(4), pages 338-355.
    13. Joel Sobel, 1984. "The Timing of Sales," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 353-368.
    14. David Besanko & Jean-Pierre Dubé & Sachin Gupta, 2005. "Own-Brand and Cross-Brand Retail Pass-Through," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 123-137, July.
    15. S. Chan Choi, 1991. "Price Competition in a Channel Structure with a Common Retailer," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 271-296.
    16. Harald J. van Heerde & Peter S. H. Leeflang & Dick R. Wittink, 2004. "Decomposing the Sales Promotion Bump with Store Data," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 317-334, December.
    17. Elizabeth J. Warner & Robert B. Barsky, 1995. "The Timing and Magnitude of Retail Store Markdowns: Evidence from Weekends and Holidays," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 321-352.
    18. Martin Pesendorfer, 2002. "Retail Sales: A Study of Pricing Behavior in Supermarkets," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(1), pages 33-66, January.
    19. repec:bla:jemstr:v:4:y:1995:i:1:p:85-107:a is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Narasimhan, Chakravarthi, 1988. "Competitive Promotional Strategies," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(4), pages 427-449, October.
    21. Scott A. Neslin & Stephen G. Powell & Linda Schneider Stone, 1995. "The Effects of Retailer and Consumer Response on Optimal Manufacturer Advertising and Trade Promotion Strategies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(5), pages 749-766, May.
    22. Nanda Kumar & Surendra Rajiv & Abel Jeuland, 2001. "Effectiveness of Trade Promotions: Analyzing the Determinants of Retail Pass Through," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 382-404, August.
    23. Sundaram,Rangarajan K., 1996. "A First Course in Optimization Theory," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521497701, October.
    24. Andrea Shepard, 1993. "Contractual Form, Retail Price, and Asset Characteristics in Gasoline Retailing," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(1), pages 58-77, Spring.
    25. Villas-Boas, J Miguel, 1995. "Models of Competitive Price Promotions: Some Empirical Evidence from the Coffee and Saltine Crackers Markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 85-107, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Berck, Peter & Brown, Jennifer & Perloff, Jeffrey M & Villas-Boas, Sofia B., 2007. "Sales: Tests of Theories on Causality and Timing," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt2g56n1jk, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    2. Villas-Boas, Sofia B & Perloff, Jeff & Berck, Peter & Brown, Jen, 2008. "Sales: Tests of Theories on Causality and Timing," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt0076k5r6, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    3. Berck, Peter & Brown, Jennifer & Perloff, Jeffrey M. & Villas-Boas, Sofia Berto, 2008. "Sales: Tests of theories on causality and timing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1257-1273, November.
    4. Li, Chenguang & Sexton, Richard J., 2009. "Impacts of Retailers’ Pricing Strategies for Produce Commodities on Farmer Welfare," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51720, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Li, Chenguang & Volpe, Richard, 2014. "Retail Pricing Patterns and Driving Factors of Price Variation," 88th Annual Conference, April 9-11, 2014, AgroParisTech, Paris, France 169730, Agricultural Economics Society.
    6. Timothy Richards, 2007. "A nested logit model of strategic promotion," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 63-91, March.
    7. Bakucs, Lajos Zoltan & Ferto, Imre, 2009. "Milk Retail Sales Patterns in a Transition Economy. The Case of Hungary," 83rd Annual Conference, March 30 - April 1, 2009, Dublin, Ireland 50932, Agricultural Economics Society.
    8. Villas-Boas, Sofia B & Villas-Boas, Miguel, 2006. "Learning, Forgetting, and Sales," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt7td275hv, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    9. Maxim Sinitsyn, 2016. "Managing Price Promotions Within a Product Line," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 304-318, March.
    10. Villas-Boas, Sofia B & Villas-Boas, J Miguel, 2008. "Learning, Forgetting, and Sales," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt01v2r04t, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    11. Loy, Jens-Peter & Weaver, Robert D., 2003. "Retail Sales: Do They Mean Reduced Expenditures? German Grocery Evidence," 2003 Annual Meeting, August 16-22, 2003, Durban, South Africa 25914, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Hao Lan & Tim Lloyd & Wyn Morgan & Paul W. Dobson, 2022. "Are food price promotions predictable? The hazard function of supermarket discounts," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 64-85, February.
    13. Rajiv Lal & J. Miguel Villas-Boas, 1998. "Price Promotions and Trade Deals with Multiproduct Retailers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(7), pages 935-949, July.
    14. Sofia Berto Villas-Boas & J. Miguel Villas-Boas, 2008. "Learning, Forgetting, and Sales," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(11), pages 1951-1960, November.
    15. Daniel Hosken & David Reiffen, 2004. "How Retailers Determine Which Products Should Go on Sale: Evidence From Store-Level Data," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 141-177, June.
    16. Fertő, Imre & Bakucs, Lajos Zoltán, 2009. "Árleszállítások és a kiskereskedelmi árak változása a tejtermékek piacán [Sales and retail price patterns on the market for milk products]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 634-647.
    17. Holzer, Patrick Sebastian, 2020. "The effect of time-varying factors on promotional activity in the German milk market," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    18. Li, Chenguang & Volpe, Richard, 2013. "Retail Pricing Patterns and Driving Factors of Price Variation," 87th Annual Conference, April 8-10, 2013, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 158694, Agricultural Economics Society.
    19. Jianqiang Zhang & Weijun Zhong & Shue Mei, 2012. "Competitive effects of informative advertising in distribution channels," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 561-584, September.
    20. Chan, Tat Y. & Narasimhan, Chakravarthi & Yoon, Yeujun, 2017. "Advertising and price competition in a manufacturer-retailer channel," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 694-716.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:24:y:2005:i:1:p:110-122. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.