报告题目：客户奖励机制模型与分析（ Models and Analysis of Customer Reward Programs）

报告人：张丹（Zhang Dan） 教授

邀请人：胡祥培  教授

报告时间及地点：2019年5月28日15:30-17:00；经济管理学院B220

Abstract：Customer reward programs are widely used in practice. We develop a theoretical framework to investigate the economic rationale behind this phenomenon, and the tradeoffs in optimal reward program design. In our model, a monopolistic firm interacts with consumers over an infinite horizon. Consumers are heterogeneous in their shopping patterns and product valuations, and forward-looking in making purchase decisions. We discuss alternative customer reward program designs and compare and contrast their efficacy. Optimally designed reward programs can often significantly enhance firm profitability and improve aggregate consumer welfare, even though the implications for individual consumer segments are more nuanced. Several extensions of the main model confirm the robustness of these results.

Biography：Dan Zhang is Professor of Operations Management at Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Zhang’s primary research interest is revenue management and approximate dynamic programming. He frequently speaks at conferences, companies, and academic institutions, and consults in his area of expertise. Between 2017 and 2018, he is the chair of INFORMS Pricing and Revenue Management Section, an international society of pricing and revenue management researchers and professionals. He was the Department Editor for the Revenue Management and Pricing Area at the journal Decision Sciences between 2017 and 2018 and a Senior Editor for the journal Production and Operations Management between 2014 and 2018. Since January 2019, he has been the Department Editor of Revenue Management Area at Production and Operations Management and an Associate Editor at INFORMS Journal on Computing. Dr. Zhang teaches operations management, statistics, and data analytics courses at all levels. He also offered a PhD level course on Approximate Dynamic Programming at several universities. Together with two colleagues, he has been offering a five-course specialization on Data Analytics for Business since September 2016 on the MOOC platform Coursera, which has enrolled tens of thousands of students worldwide. Dr. Zhang held visiting appointments at Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and College of Business, City University of Hong Kong