Blockchain-based traceability system adoption decision in the dual-channel perishable goods market under different pricing policies

Abstract

The blockchain-based traceability system (BTS) can reduce product losses in the perishable goods market, which yields a loss-reduction effect, and offer authentic information, which triggers a premium effect. In a dual-channel perishable goods supply chain (DPGSC), including one supplier and retailer each, the supplier can operate the price of the direct channel, different or non-different from that of the traditional channel. To study the adoption of BTS in the supplier-led DPGSC, we employed a game-theoretical model to capture BTS adoption strategy under the differential and non-differential pricing policies and proposed an improved cost-sharing contract to boost the DPGSC performance. The results indicated that both the supplier and the retailer are willing to improve product quality, broaden the saleable region, and lower the production cost. The adoption of BTS mainly depends on the losses-reduction effect, premium effect, production cost, and tag cost, which is affected more by the premium effect than by the loss-reduction effect. Furthermore, their adoption is not always easier when the production cost is higher. Except for symmetric base demands, they benefit asynchronously from BTS. Synchronised adoptions can be realised only when the improved cost-sharing contract generates more profits and introduces excess momentum.

Highlights

• Blockchain-based traceability system handles product losses and forged information

• Adoption decision-making processes under two different pricing policies are studied

• In the adoption process, the premium effect outweighs the loss-reduction effect

• Contract may introduce insufficient momentum, excess momentum, or new inefficiency

• Once excess momentum is formed, supply chain members' adoptions become synchronised

KEYWORDS:

• Supply chain coordination
• blockchain technology
• loss-reduction effect
• premium effect
• pricing policies

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the constructive comments from the review team, which have greatly improved the quality of the paper. The authors are grateful to the participants at the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (2021) for their helpful feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Notes

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Number 71874022.

Notes on contributors

Shuai Zhao

Shuai Zhao is a Ph.D. candidate in management science and engineering at the School of Economics and Management, Dalian University of Technology. He received his M.S. degree from Kunming University of Science and Technology, China, in 2016 and his B.S. degree from Henan Polytechnic University, China, in 2012. His research interests include the application of Blockchain technology in e-commerce, game theory, advance selling, and dual-channel supply chain.

Wenli Li

Wenli Li is a full professor at the School of Economics and Management, Dalian University of Technology. He received his Ph.D. from Dalian University of Technology, China, in 2002 and his M.S. degree from Dalian Maritime University, China, in 1997. From 2003 to 2005, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Fudan University in China. His research interests include supply chain management, e-commerce, and information management.