Evolutionary game theory analysis of supply chain with fairness concerns of retailers

This study focuses on evolutionary game analysis of supply chain (SC) strategies with fairness concerns. First, the equilibrium solutions under the eight combined strategies are obtained through the Stackelberg game. Subsequently, evolutionary game theory is applied to analyze the stability of these equilibrium solutions and to discuss the evolutionary stability strategy of the tripartite game. The study suggests that the effect of distributional fairness concerns on SC pricing differs from that of peer-induced fairness concerns in the short term. Implanting fairness concerns into SC pricing decisions is always detrimental to the supplier and not always beneficial to retailers. From a long-term perspective, only one evolutionarily stable equilibrium point exists. Retailers do not pay attention to the fairness of the channel profit distribution, and the supplier does not consider the fairness of retailers. The results help enterprises understand the influence of fairness preferences on pricing decisions and provide a reference for the efficient operation of SCs.