Pricing through ambiguity: a flocking model of the inter-dynamics between pricing practices and market uncertainties

IF 1.3 4区社会学 Q3 MATHEMATICS, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS

Journal of Mathematical Sociology Pub Date : 2020-04-24 DOI:10.1080/0022250X.2020.1746297

Xiaolu Wang

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pricing practices of firms are an important yet the least studied aspect of the price phenomenon in sociology. This paper answers the question: why do firms, even in the same market, tend to use different pricing practices – value-informed, competition-informed, or cost-informed pricing – to set prices? To that end, this study constructs a formal dynamic flocking model to investigate the inter-dynamics between market uncertainties and the viability of the three pricing practices. The model is a substantial revision and extension of Harrison White’s static W(y) market model by reformulating the latter into a dynamic one and by explicitly incorporating different market uncertainties into the model as variables. The study shows that each kind of pricing practice is only viable under certain distributions of market uncertainties. The theory is then used to explain the distribution of pricing practices among firms in the Burgundy wine market. Theoretical and methodological innovations and the implications for firms and for sociological research on markets and uncertainties are also discussed.

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模糊定价：定价实践和市场不确定性相互作用的羊群模型

企业定价实践是社会学中价格现象中一个重要但研究最少的方面。本文回答了这个问题:为什么即使在同一个市场上，企业也倾向于使用不同的定价实践——价值知情、竞争知情或成本知情定价——来定价?为此，本研究构建了一个正式的动态群集模型，探讨市场不确定性与三种定价方式可行性之间的相互动力学关系。该模型是对Harrison White的静态W(y)市场模型的实质性修正和扩展，将后者重新表述为动态模型，并明确地将不同的市场不确定性作为变量纳入模型。研究表明，在一定的市场不确定性分布下，每种定价方法都是可行的。这一理论随后被用来解释勃艮第葡萄酒市场中各公司定价行为的分布。还讨论了理论和方法的创新以及对公司和对市场和不确定性的社会学研究的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Mathematical Sociology 数学-数学跨学科应用

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

10.00%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： The goal of the Journal of Mathematical Sociology is to publish models and mathematical techniques that would likely be useful to professional sociologists. The Journal also welcomes papers of mutual interest to social scientists and other social and behavioral scientists, as well as papers by non-social scientists that may encourage fruitful connections between sociology and other disciplines. Reviews of new or developing areas of mathematics and mathematical modeling that may have significant applications in sociology will also be considered. The Journal of Mathematical Sociology is published in association with the International Network for Social Network Analysis, the Japanese Association for Mathematical Sociology, the Mathematical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association, and the Methodology Section of the American Sociological Association.