A Comparative Study On The Supply Chain Pricing Models Of Fresh Agricultural Products Under Double Information Asymmetry

With the development of e-commerce,more and more fresh produce is being sold through e-commerce platforms.Unlike traditional eye-to-eye transactions,there is a more pronounced information asymmetry in e-commerce transactions,as suppliers of fresh produce have information on the freshness of the fresh produce,while ecommerce platforms are closer to the market and have more accurate information on market demand.Therefore,it is important to study the pricing decision of fresh produce under the double information asymmetry.This thesis investigates the fresh produce supply chain consisting of fresh produce suppliers and fresh produce e-merchants,and considers the effects of freshness disclosure,market demand disclosure and the value-added service level of e-merchant platforms.Firstly,a mathematical model is developed based on the pricing problem to study the fresh produce supply chain in the cases of disclosure of freshness and no disclosure of market signals from both parties,simultaneous disclosure of freshness and market signals from suppliers,simultaneous disclosure of freshness and market signals from e-commerce platforms,and simultaneous disclosure of freshness and market signals from both parties,and then equilibrium decision and the optimal expected profit under four different information disclosure strategies in the supplier pricing model and the e-commerce platform pricing model are then solved separately.Secondly,the optimal market information disclosure strategies under the supplier pricing model and the e-commerce platform pricing model are selected through a comparative study.Finally,the optimal decisions of both pricing models are compared under the optimal market information disclosure strategy,and the choice of pricing models is derived under different conditions.The study shows that: firstly,under the supplier pricing model,the situation where freshness and both market signals are disclosed simultaneously is always more favourable for both parties.Secondly,in the e-commerce platform pricing model,it is not always profitable to disclose both market signals at the same time,and when the relative benefits of disclosing freshness fall within a certain range,it is not beneficial for the e-commerce platform to disclose market information in both directions.Thirdly,it is not always more advantageous for the supplier or e-commerce platform to hold the pricing power when the relative benefit coefficient of freshness disclosure is within a certain range and the freshness of the fresh produce meets the corresponding conditions.