Is money all‐powerful? An optimal online review rebate strategy for independent remanufacturers

Abstract Online reviews can help consumers learn that remanufactured products are as good as new products, and how to use online review rebate (ORR) strategies to increase the number of online reviews has become a key issue for remanufacturers. In this study, a supply chain model including the original equipment manufacturer and the independent remanufacturer (IR) was constructed, and three models—no ORR, unconditional ORR, and positive ORR—were compared. The results highlight that the IR prefers to choose the ORR strategy to increase profits. However, if the number of online reviews without rebates is already high, the IR prefers the use of no ORR strategy to prevent the negative effects of excessive rebate costs associated with the production of remanufactured products.