Price control and advertising in franchising chains
研究了特许经营连锁如何通过广告来增强对加盟店价格的控制，利用麦当劳全国广告活动前后的门店价格数据，发现广告能有效促进价格统一并减少加盟商搭便车行为。
This study investigates how franchising chains use advertising to enhance coordination and improve their control over prices set at franchised outlets. We argue that chains use price advertising to inform customers about their desired prices, thereby influencing franchisees to adopt the advertised prices although they are not contractually required to do so. We test our hypotheses using rich outlet‐level price data collected before and after a U.S . nationwide advertising campaign by M c D onald's. Our findings indicate that advertising is an effective mechanism that franchising chains use to improve their control over franchisees, enhance uniformity, and reduce franchisee free‐riding . Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.