线上市场的价格离散及影响因素研究——商家策略性行为视角下的经验证据

Research on Price Dispersion and Influencing Factors in Online Market:Empirical Evidence from the Perspective of Seller Strategic Behavior

仅基于消费者搜寻理论,不能完全解释线上市场中普遍存在的价格离散现象,商家的定价策略也是导致价格差异性的重要原因。本文以体验型商品为研究对象,基于淘宝和天猫平台上的微观交易数据,分析发现商品交易价格明显具有刚性,价格离散现象长期存在。从商家策略性行为的视角进行实证研究,结果表明商品特征、商家异质性和合作促销三类因素均对价格离散度有显著影响,反映出在B2C和C2C市场中,商家的定价策略既有相似性又有差异性。总体上,对于高价值商品,商家可能会采取混淆定价策略以获得较高的商品加成;优质商家更倾向于使用差别定价方式吸引有经验的消费者。在大型网络购物节期间,淘宝商家注重价格竞争,而天猫商家的定价策略则侧重于提升交叉销售能力。

The ubiquitous price dispersion in the online market can not be solely explained by consumer search theory.Furthermore,business pricing strategy is also an important reason for price difference.Based on the micro transaction data of TaoBao and Tmall platforms,this paper takes experiential goods as the research object and finds that transaction price is obviously rigid,meanwhile the price dispersion phenomenon exists for a long time.From the perspective of sellers’strategic behavior,we put forward research hypotheses and conduct empirical research.The results show that commodity characteristics,seller heterogeneity and online cooperative promotion have significant effects on price dispersion,which reflects that sellers’pricing strategies are both similar and different in B2 C and C2 C markets.In general,for high-valued goods,sellers may apply the obfuscation mechanism to secure a larger markup.Furthermore,retailers with high reputation or good service are more likely to play mixed pricing strategy in the competition for informed consumers.During the big online shopping festival,TaoBao sellers focus on price competition,whereas Tmall sellers’dynamic pricing is aimed to enhance cross-selling capabilities.