Purpose

New information technologies such as IoT and big data analytics have reshaped the development of smart green products. These products exhibit two important features that are not seen in traditional products: environmental friendliness and data network effect. Based on these unique features, the authors investigate a firm's optimal selling strategy of smart green products from both the profitability and environmental perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors establish stylized models to consider the optimality of three selling strategies: (1) traditional strategy – only offering traditional products, (2) green strategy – only offering smart green products, and (3) hybrid strategy – offering both traditional and smart green products.

Findings

The authors’ analysis shows that in the absence of data network effect, there will always be a conflict between profit maximization and environmental protection. However, a strategy that benefits both the firm and the environment exists when data network effect is present. Interestingly, hybrid and traditional strategies can be win-win strategies, but the green strategy cannot. Also surprisingly, the green strategy may harm the environment more as smart products become greener.

Originality/value

This study examines the economic and environmental implications of selling smart green products, and contributes to existing literature on sustainable operations and green product design by incorporating the impact of both consumer environmental awareness and data network effect. The authors’ findings shed light on how to coordinate the profitability and environmental impact of selling smart green products in the era of big data and IoT.

中文翻译：

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聪明是新的绿色吗？消费者环境意识和数据网络效应的影响

目的

物联网和大数据分析等新信息技术重塑了智能绿色产品的发展。这些产品具有两个传统产品所不具备的重要功能：环境友好性和数据网络效应。基于这些独特的功能，作者从盈利能力和环境角度研究了公司的智能绿色产品最佳销售策略。

设计/方法/方法

作者建立了程式化模型，以考虑三种销售策略的最优性：（1）传统策略–仅提供传统产品；（2）绿色策略–仅提供智能绿色产品；以及（3）混合策略–同时提供传统和智能绿色产品。

发现

作者的分析表明，在没有数据网络效应的情况下，利润最大化和环境保护之间总是存在冲突。但是，当存在数据网络效应时，就存在一种既有利于公司又有利于环境的策略。有趣的是，混合策略和传统策略可以是双赢的策略，而绿色策略则不能。同样令人惊讶的是，随着智能产品变得更绿色，绿色战略可能对环境造成更大的损害。

创意/价值

这项研究考察了销售智能绿色产品的经济和环境影响，并通过结合消费者环境意识和数据网络效应的影响，为有关可持续运营和绿色产品设计的现有文献做出了贡献。作者的发现揭示了在大数据和物联网时代如何协调销售智能绿色产品的盈利能力和环境影响。