Pricing Strategy in a Dual-Channel Supply Chain Considering Consortium Blockchain and Cost Information Asymmetry

For a dual-channel supply chain constructed by a manufacturer and a retailer, the upstream and downstream members of the supply chain are in the condition of cost information asymmetry. In this paper, we explore whether investing in consortium blockchain technology can mitigate the effects of information asymmetry on the supply chain's overall performance. Three stackelberg game models are constructed to discuss the pricing strategies of supply chain members to deal with information asymmetry. The study's findings indicate that supply chain members deal with the impact of information asymmetry on sales volume by reducing prices. Consortium blockchain technology's input is advantageous to the supply chain's overall profit. When the level of consortium blockchain technology's input is low, the retailer should bear the entire cost of the consortium blockchain, conversely, the manufacturer and retailer should share the cost of the consortium blockchain technology. It is beneficial to consumers when input costs and input level of consortium blockchain are controlled within a certain range. For the strategy that the input costs of the consortium blockchain are split by the manufacturer and the retailer, the smaller the proportion of the manufacturer's share is, the more favorable it is to the total profit of the supply chain.