Pricing Models under Three-Echelon Prefabricated Construction Supply Chains with Consumer Preferences

With the growing ecological crisis and consumer environmental awareness, there is a general recognition of the urgent need for the reform of the energy-intensive construction industry. Prefabricated construction has emerged as an effective approach to achieve energy conservation and environmental sustainability. The prefabricated rate is a critical indicator that comprehensively reflects the level of technology, which affects orders, costs, pricing, and partnerships. Moreover, given the highly decentralized nature of the construction industry, it is imperative to consider building materials' supply in the Prefabricated Construction Supply Chain (PCSC). Therefore, this paper investigates how the prefabricated rate affects consumer preferences and order allocation while designing a three-echelon PCSC under a single-supplier structure, two-supplier structure, and dual-channel structure. Two different channels, prefabricated component and non-prefabricated component, are distinguished by the prefabricated rate. This research not only provides pricing-oriented decision advice but also offers suggestions for channel selection among participants. The results show that the increase in consumers' preference for the prefabricated rate raises prices. Moreover, a moderate prefabricated rate is most beneficial. Comparing the three models, the supply chain performance of a two-supplier structure is better than that of a single-supplier structure if the prefabricated rate exceeds a certain threshold, while the dual-channel structure is the worst.