Pricing, Advertising, and Service Decisions in a Manufacturer-Retailer Supply Chain with Nash, Stackelberg-Retailer, and Cooperative Games

This paper examines the simultaneous decisions regarding advertising, pricing, and service to supply chain coordination involving one manufacturer and one retailer. Demand is impacted by these decisions, with service playing a crucial role in enhancing customer loyalty and boosting sales. The study employs three well-known game theory approaches—Nash, Stackelberg-Retailer, and Cooperative games—to analyze their effects on the supply chain. Optimal strategies for both the manufacturer and the retailer are identified within each approach, and the strategies’ results are compared. Results show that the retailer manufacturer, and the entire system achieves higher profits through the Stackelberg-Retailer game compared to the Nash game, while the Cooperative game results in the highest overall profits. Finally, the Nash bargaining model is outlined and analyzed to assess opportunities for sharing profits.