Purpose This study optimizes collaboration models for tiered motherboard repair in consumer electronics. It aims to identify optimal coordination mechanisms among after-sales enterprises, repair providers and third-party advanced facilities to address operational challenges. Design/methodology/approach We employ a Stackelberg game-theoretic framework to model three-stage decision-making mechanisms for tiered repair strategies under various scenarios. Findings Results indicate that high repair ratios can drive service prices below new product costs. Enterprises prefer third-party facilities at low repair ratios but switch to providers as ratios rise or fee rates remain moderate. Joint collaboration occurs only under specific conditions. Extended analyses confirm robustness, revealing that fairness concerns reduce enterprise profits, while both fairness concerns and stochastic demand increase the likelihood of adopting the joint collaboration model. Originality/value Addressing the “channel integration puzzle”, this study seeks to narrow the gap between circular economy strategy and execution. Unlike literature focused on marketing or return barriers, we propose a quantitative framework integrating forward low-tier repairs with reverse high-tier regeneration. This offers a novel theoretical perspective on operationalizing circularity through strategic channel selection, ensuring the economic viability of sustainable retail models.
Zhang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.