A gray market is an unauthorized distribution channel of genuine branded products. Worldwide gray markets compete with authorized distribution channels of branded products and pose significant challenges to brand owners on the management of global supply chains. Therefore, it is important for brand owners to understand sellers’ and buyers’ behavior in gray markets in order to better address thi...

Consumers are at the central point of marketing. However, while existential research is devoted to understanding gray market, little attention is given to the consumer’s view of gray market. This study attempts to take the perspective of consumers to address the gray market issue. Lifestyles of the target customers of trademark holders are proposed for trademark holders to retain existing custo...

Diverting large quantities of goods from authorized distribution channels to unauthorized or “gray market” channels, albeit legal, significantly affects both firms and consumers due to effects on price, revenue, service and warranty availability, and product availability. In this paper we consider mechanisms by which the uncertainty surrounding inventory ordering decisions drives gray markets. ...

Many used tractors that are imported from Japan are adding to the current national inventory in the U.S. and Canada of farm tractors that lack a rollover protective structure (ROPS). Gray-market tractors are built for use by the manufacturer for a certain country but are imported against the manufacture's wishes to a second country for use there, usually as a used tractor. Gray-market tractors ...

Gray marketing, the selling of branded goods outside of manufacturer-authorized channels, is a factor in many industries. Using a model of differentiated Cournot competition, we analyze how gray markets affect the strategy used to enter low-priced foreign markets. In particular, we examine how much autonomy a firm should give its foreign subsidiary. When production in the foreign country is det...

Gray market activity has become increasingly prevalent. The prevailing wisdom in marketing is to use more severe enforcement to deter gray marketing. However, the certainty and speed of enforcement may also have a bearing on the incidence of violations. This article examines whether and how enforcement deters gray marketing. The results from a field survey of manufacturers and an experimental d...

Gray markets are unauthorized channels of distribution for a supplier’s authentic products. This paper studies a distribution channel that consists of a supplier who offers all-unit quantity discounts for batch orders to enjoy cost savings, and a reseller who may divert some goods to the gray markets. Our analysis shows the impact of gray markets depends on the reseller’s batch inventory holdin...