水平差异、垂直差异、外部信息获取与消费者购买行为

Horizontal Differentiation,Vertical Differentiation,External Information Acquisition and Consumer Buying Behavior

本文运用新实证产业组织理论模型(N EIO)验证了企业产品战略当中一个长期争议的问题:企业产品差异化战略究竟会促进消费者购买行为还是抑制消费者购买行为?在利用新实证产业组织的理论框架将产品差异区分为水平差异与垂直差异之后,随机参数离散选择模型给出了稳健的计量结果:基于“水平差异化”的产品差异化策略对于消费者购买行为具有显著的促进作用;基于“垂直差异化”的产品差异化策略对于消费者购买行为具有抑制作用。此前对产品差异化问题的实证研究之所以出现争议,是未能有效区分产品差异的不同类型。此外,通过外部信息获取,“垂直差异化”对消费者购买行为的抑制作用可以得到一定程度的控制。本文的理论和实证结果明确了之前关于产品差异化效果的实证研究出现矛盾结论的重要原因,具有较大的理论价值,并为企业制定有效的产品竞争战略、合理构建差异化产品组合提供了重要的参考依据。

Product differentiation strategies are an important part of firm competition strategy. However, the effect of product differentiation strategies is controversial. In some real-life cases, product differentiation promotes consumer buying behavior, but in others,it inhibits it. Although some scholars have provided independent theoretical explanations, their theories fail to explain why product differentiation strategies have opposing effects in different situations, which further leads to existing analyses of the effects of differentiation strategies that cannot be integrated into a unified theoretical framework.To address the above issues, we analyze the limitations of existing studies in terms of the theoretical framework, including the failure to distinguish the impact of different types of differentiations on consumers, the stated preference bias in questionnaire data, and the inapplicability of verification methods. We develop a new theoretical framework and empirical technical route using the theoretical framework of the new empirical industrial organization(NEIO). First, we distinguish between two types of differentiations in the product differentiation strategy, namely, vertical differentiation and horizontal differentiation. Second, we use the NEIO model combining Taobao market sales data of tablet PCs and questionnaire data to calculate consumer demand functions to overcome the stated preference bias. Third, we verify the impact of two different product differentiation strategies on consumer buying behavior using a random-coefficients discrete-choice model, which allows consumers to have systematic taste differences for the same feature and examines the effect of both vertical and horizontal differentiations in an empirical framework.We draw the following conclusions. First, product differentiation strategies based on horizontal differentiation have a significantly positive effect on consumer buying behavior, as increased types of horizontal differentiations can satisfy the specific preferences of consumers and increase the probability of consumer purchase. Second, product differentiation strategies based on vertical differentiation have a negative effect on consumer buying behavior, because vertical differentiation requires consumers to choose between multiple vertical differentiations and overcome the negative feelings about choosing a certain function or feature, thus reducing the probability of consumer choice. The reason for the debate in previous empirical studies on product differentiation is the failure to distinguish between different types of product differentiation. Third, the acquisition of external information can alleviate the negative effect of vertical differentiation on consumer buying behavior.This paper has the following contributions. First, it integrates the NEIO theory into the field of firm competition strategy and marketing research. Second, our results show that the important reasons for the contradictory conclusions of previous empirical studies on the effect of product differentiation, which demonstrates the important theoretical value of this paper. Third, our results provide reference basis for firms to develop effective product competition strategy and differentiated product portfolios.