A case study in Gray Markets (Atena Editora)

Abstract

This work is based on a dissertation completed in the late 90s on the emergence of international gray markets, their impact on manufacturers and other members of the marketing channel and the strategies used by some companies when dealing with the gray market problem (therefore, it is important to note that the facts and figures used in this study do not necessarily apply to more current studies on the "gray market" topic). The study uses the case of a sophisticated, high-technology firm that manufactures consumer products and packaged goods as the focus of the research. First, some examples describing the general gray market problem and assess a description of gray schemes in the consumer goods industry. Then some issues in pricing schemes used by companies dealing with gray markets are approached and the status of the legal aspects referring to gray markets is described. Then I make the appropriate links of the literature review to the firm studied in this case. In this work, the firm in the case study will be referred to as TechDisk. I characterize the nature of gray markets for TechDisk and show the major issues that the firm faces when dealing with gray markets. Finally, a conclusion on the behavior of companies facing gray markets is drawn based upon the observations collected from the literature and based on the data from TechDisk.