关键词: 延保服务, 绿色供应链, 信息不对称, 信息共享中图分类号:F272 文章标识码:A 文章编号:1007-3221(2024)04-0159-08 doi:10.12005/orms.2024.0127

Abstract: Extended warranty service refers to the fact that consumers pay an additional fee to enjoy a period of free repair service after the original warranty period of the product expires, which is an extension of the original warranty of the product. Although the adoption of extended warranty service in China has been relatively recent, the market potential for such service is significant, driven by shifting consumer attitudes and the growth of e-commerce. Particularly in the green product market, due to the immaturity of green materials and green technologies, quality issues with green products frequently occur; the existence of extended warranty service may alleviate consumer concerns about the quality of green products, and has a substantial impact on market demand. In addition, considering the significant uncertainty of demand for green products, channel members often collect information independently to forecast market demand, which may lead to asymmetric market demand information among channel members. In this context, extended warranty service may indirectly influence information sharing among channel members by impacting market demand. However, the specific mechanism of influence of extended warranty service on channel members’ decisions and profits is not yet clear, and issues such as setting extended warranty service prices and selecting extended warranty service modes still need to be urgently studied.
In the context of information asymmetry in market demand in green supply chains, this study constructs three models: no extended warranty service provided by a retailer, extended warranty service provided by a retailer, and extended warranty service provided by a retailer in cooperation with a third-party enterprise, to explore the impact of extended warranty service on the decisions and information sharing of green supply chain members. The following conclusions are obtained. (1)A retailer can effectively improve the greenness of products and the profits of channel members by providing extended warranty service. Compared to not providing extended warranty service and cooperating with a third-party enterprise to provide extended warranty service, a retailer providing extended warranty service alone has the most optimal positive impact on the greenness of products and the profits of channel members. (2)Under the scenario where a retailer provides extended warranty service alone, information sharing by the retailer benefits the manufacturer but may not necessarily benefit itself and the greenness of products. When the manufacturer predicts lower market demand, the extended warranty service of the retailer will be beneficial for the information sharing of channel members, and vice versa. (3)When the conditions of the extended warranty period are met, the greenness of products and the profits of supply chain members will increase with the extension of the warranty period. However, the extended warranty service price does not always increase with the extension of the warranty period. (4)The impact of the relevance of information forecasting on the profits of channel members will be more significant when the retailer provides extended warranty service.
The innovations of this paper are mainly reflected in the following aspects. (1)Most studies have explored the impact of different channel modes and extended warranty quality on the price of extended warranty service, while this paper considers the impact of product greenness on the price of extended warranty service based on the particularity of green product repair technology and raw materials. (2)Most existing research on extended warranty service is carried out under the condition of information symmetry, and the influence of information asymmetry is rarely considered. Considering that the green consumer market is not mature and the product demand has a significant uncertainty, this paper considers the extended warranty service strategy under the background of asymmetric demand information.
Although this paper has obtained some refined conclusions, there are still some expansibility. For example, (1)this study only considers the extended warranty service provided by retailers, and further research is needed to distinguish the difference between the extended warranty service provided by retailers and manufacturers. (2)This study only focuses on a single channel, but the extended warranty service under dual channels is also worthy of further study. (3)In future research, the impact of free extended warranty service on the supply chain can be explored from the perspective of risk aversion.

Key words: extended warranty service, green supply chain, information asymmetry, information sharing