Title: Evolutionary game analysis for dual-channel booking behaviour of shippers and carriers

Authors: Qingbin Wang; Gaoyu Pu; Jianfeng Zheng

Addresses: College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China ' College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China ' College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China

Abstract: With the development of e-commerce technology, online booking has become a new booking choice. Under traditional channel, small and medium-sized shippers (SMSs)' cargo is always being dumped due to carrier's overselling, and online channel guarantee to lock the price and slots by prepaying deposits. Because SMSs and carriers lack scientific decision support, they usually fall into a vicious circle during high demand season. Therefore, an evolutionary game model is constructed to analyse shippers' and carriers' booking behaviour, identifying a win-win strategy during high demand season. In order to explore characteristics of booking behaviour, the ESS under four scenarios is discussed, then analysing the sensitivity of key parameters to the win-win strategy. The results show that the ESS is related to decision scenarios and evolutionary initial states, and booking behaviour is mainly influenced by freight fluctuation rate, dumping compensation, empty loading risk, deposit loss risk and financial operation cost.

Keywords: dual-channel booking; e-commerce; electronic commerce; small and medium-sized shipper; SMS; overselling; evolutionary game.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2025.146582

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2025 Vol.20 No.2, pp.224 - 244

Received: 17 Mar 2023
Accepted: 11 Dec 2023
Published online: 05 Jun 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article