Will the presence of ‘fashion knockoffs’ benefit the original-designer-label product supply chain?

Fashion knockoffs, which refer to the copycat behaviours of some brands in fashion apparel, are widely seen. It is commonly believed that the presence of fashion knockoffs harms the original-designer-label (ODL) product seller. Motivated by the industrial interviews and real-world observations, we build game-theoretical models to examine the impacts of fashion knockoffs on the ODL product supply chain and its agents with the consideration of risk attitudes. Explicitly, in the basic model, we consider a common manufacturer producing for both a knockoff product seller and a risk sensitive ODL product seller. The ODL product seller and the knockoff product seller make pricing decisions to optimise their own profits. We interestingly find that the presence of fashion knockoffs benefits the ODL product supply chain and its agents when (i) the ODL product seller is risk averse and the ratio of demand uncertainty is relatively small or (ii) the ODL product seller is risk seeking and the ratio of demand uncertainty is sufficiently large. The findings indicate that a risk averse (seeking) ODL product seller is more prone to benefit from the presence of fashion knockoffs when selling fashionable (classic) products.

时尚仿品 (Fashion knockoffs) 指时尚服饰领域内部分品牌的抄袭仿制行为，该现象广泛存在。学界与业界普遍认为，时尚仿品的出现会损害原创设计师品牌 (original-designer-label, ODL) 产品销售商的利益。基于行业访谈与现实观察的研究动机，本文构建博弈论模型，在考量风险偏好的前提下，探究时尚仿品对原创设计师品牌产品供应链及其参与主体的影响。具体而言，基础模型中我们设定：一家普通制造商同时为仿品销售商与风险敏感型原创设计师品牌产品销售商供货；两类销售商均通过制定定价策略以最大化自身利润。本文得到了颇具研究价值的结论：当满足以下两种情形之一时，时尚仿品的出现反而会正向惠及原创设计师品牌产品供应链及其参与主体：（1）原创设计师品牌产品销售商为风险厌恶型，且需求不确定性比率相对较小；（2）原创设计师品牌产品销售商为风险寻求型，且需求不确定性比率足够大。进一步研究表明，风险厌恶型（风险寻求型）原创设计师品牌产品销售商在售卖时尚潮流款（经典款）产品时，更易从时尚仿品的存在中获益。