Full-line or specialization strategy? The negative effect of product variety on product line strategy

This paper studies the product line decisions of firms under two consumer segments differing in their quality-sensitivity. We focus on a negative impact of the product variety on the consumers’ motivation to purchase, while each product is horizontally differentiated. In the presence of this impact and high fixed costs relative to variable costs, it is shown that when a highly quality-sensitive segment exists, it is always advantageous for the monopoly to specialize in only one product serving this segment. However, the appearance of a competitor can drastically change the product line in the market. Under the duopolistic setting where two firms sequentially determine their product lines, we show that the leader gains a better financial result by offering its product to the low segment for many cases, including the case where no product is offered to the high segment by either of the firms who are in equilibrium. Furthermore, we obtain another interesting result that indicates that the follower’s profit can exceed the leader’s profit when the quality-sensitivities between the two consumer segments are sufficiently different, even though the two firms are symmetric except for the order of their product offerings.     

Synthesis of nitro and amino N-heterocycles via ring transformation of 2-methyl-3-nitrochromone

2-Methyl-3-nitrochromone ( 1 ) reacted with acid hydrazides, S-methylisothiourea, hydroxylamine and ethyl aminoethanoate to give the nitro derivatives of pyrazole 2 , pyrimidine 6 , isoxazole 11 and pyrrole 13 , respectively. These nitro compounds were reduced by catalytic hydrogenation to the corresponding amino derivatives. In the case of 2 , a rearrangement of the acyl group took place during the reduction. Substitution reactions of the 2-methylthio group in 6 were also described.     

Solubility of tris(acetylacetonato)cobalt(III) in micelles. Comparative study of sodium alkylsulfates and alkyltrimethylammonium bromides

The solubility of tris(acetylacetonato)cobalt(III) [Co(acac)₃] has been measured in aqueous surfactant solutions of sodium decylsulfate (NaDeS), dodecylsulfate (NaDS), and tetradecylsulfate (NaTS), and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB), and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at 35°C. The solubility increases in the order DTABTTABCTAB3. The importance of the surface solubilization is suggested. The results are compared with those for other solubilizates.     

High-spin states in107Sn

High-spin states in¹⁰⁷Sn were studied using the reaction⁵⁴Fe(⁵⁶Fe, 2pn)¹⁰⁷Sn. An odd-parity band was identified as based on thevh _11/2 orbit by measuring theγ-ray linear polarization. Also were confirmed the excited states based on thevd _5/2 andvg _7/2 orbits. The halflives of the 17/2⁺ and 11/2^? states were measured to be 0.25(4) ns and 28(11) ps, respectively. The experimental level structure and its interpretation were in good agreement with a shell model calculation.     

Development of a highly efficient catalytic method for synthesis of vinyl ethers

A new method for the preparation of alkyl vinyl ethers has been developed. Thus, various types of alkyl vinyl ethers were synthesized by the reaction of alcohols with vinyl acetate under the influence of a catalytic amount of [Ir(cod)Cl]2 combined with Na2CO3 in good to excellent yields.     

Crystal structure of the alcoholates and the ansolvate of PNU-97018, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist

The title compound, PNU-97018 [systemic name: 2-butyl-3,6,7,8,9,11-hexahydro-6,9-dimethyl-3-([2'-(2H-tetrazol-5-yl)[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl]methyl)-6,9-ethano-4H-imidazo[4,5-d]-pyridazino[1,2-a]pyridazin-4-one] is a newly developed angiotensin II receptor antagonist. The compound and its methanolate and ethanolate were characterized by X-ray crystallography and thermal analysis. The methanolate and ethanolate crystals have an almost identical molecular conformation and crystal packing. In both alcoholates, each alcohol molecule is fixed to the compound with a molar ratio of 1 : 1 by a hydrogen bond between the hydroxyl group of the alcohol molecule and the tetrazole group of the compound. The hydroxyl group of each alcohol molecule further links with the imidazole ring of the neighboring compound by hydrogen bond to form a hydrogen-bond network in both alcoholates. A tunnel-like structure that includes alcohol molecules is formed in each alcoholate. The ansolvate crystal showed completely different thermal and X-ray crystallographic characteristics from the alcoholates, where the compound molecules were directly linked by hydrogen bonds between the tetrazole group of a molecule and the imidazole ring of the neighboring molecule. The position of the hydrogen atom in the tetrazole ring was different between the ansolvate and alcoholates. Unlike alcoholates, a layer structure stacked on the b-c plane was observed in the ansolvate crystal. It was concluded that the molecular conformation and the arrangement of the compound molecules were largely different between ansolvate and alcoholate crystals.