# Manufacturer Channel Encroachment and Evolution in E-Platform Supply Chain: An Agent-Based Model
## 2 Literature Review
### Channel Encroachment  
Many wholesale suppliers have set up direct channels to compete with retailers as e-commerce has grown. The term \"supplier encroachment\" is frequently used to describe this competition [18]. While intuition generally assumes that channel encroachment by manufacturers will impact retailers, studies by [PERSON] et al. and [PERSON] et al. suggest that retailers can also benefit from channel encroachment [19; 20]. A manufacturer's choice to expand into new channels might be impacted by a number of commercial considerations. Product quality is one of the factors that is often taken into account in channel encroachment issues. [PERSON] et al. found that quality differentiation in channel encroachment does not always benefit manufacturers or retailers [21]. The manufacturer encroachment decision for differentiating product quality was considered in [PERSON] and [PERSON]'s study while also taking the manufacturer's equity sensitivity into account [22]. Along with discussing the effects of product quality on vertical product differentiation, channel competition, and product competition, [PERSON] et al. also discuss the effects of these factors on the supply chain, concluding that dual-product manufacturers are always more disposed to channel encroachment [23]. The signalling game and manufacturers' quality choices in the face of channel incursion are discussed by [PERSON] et al. [24]. The influence of information structure on manufacturer appropriation and quality choices is covered by [PERSON] et al. in their discussion of the relationship between product quality and information structure [25]. [PERSON] et al. explore the connection between information management and channel appropriation by moving the research of channel appropriation from an information symmetric to an information asymmetric environment [26]. Researchers have discovered that the invaded party (usually the retailers) has a variety of strategies for fending off manufacturers' encroachment. [PERSON] et al. noted that the marketing advantage of the retailer influences the supplier's encroachment decision when fairness concerns are considered [18]. According to [PERSON] et al., retailers were able to successfully defend against encroachment by investing in their services [27]. Three advertising structures were examined, along with their effects on manufacturer encroachment, by [PERSON] et al. in their study of the behaviour of manufacturers and/or retailers investing in informative advertising [28]. According to [PERSON] et al., the establishment of retailer store brands was successful in preventing manufacturer encroachment and was related to product quality [29]. The study by [PERSON] et al. examined the effects of product substitutability and customer green consciousness on manufacturer encroachment strategies [30]. The effect of quality effort and platform e-word-of-mouth on the encroachment of private label manufacturers was also examined by [PERSON] et al. [31]. [PERSON] et al. describe how retailers might prevent manufacturer encroachment by disseminating risk-averse information [32]. According to [PERSON] et al., retail platform parties can protect themselves against manufacturer encroachment by integrating their logistics [33]. [PERSON] et al. investigated how retailers'strategic pricing affected supplier encroachment incentives and found that these techniques may be employed as an innovative, affordable anti-intrusion weapon [34]. While previous studies have generally focused on one or two factors for analysis, this study takes advantage of agent-based modelling to build multiple scenarios to compare and analyse the impact of different factors, including consumer quality preferences and channel competition, and others. Meanwhile, most of the previous studies on channel encroachment are based on a static perspective and do not consider multi-period and multi-subject situations.