Research Seminar Series: Professor Nanda Kumar

This is a hybrid research seminar at the Asia School of Business, featuring Professor Nanda Kumar from University of Texas at Dallas
About this Event

Dear Academic and Corporate Peers,

We are thrilled to invite you to the upcoming session of the Research Seminar Series at the Asia School of Business, featuring Professor Nanda Kumar.

Seminar Title:

Your Miles, My Margin: Competing in Points and Dollars

Event Details:

📅 Date: 15 June 2026

⏰ Time: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

📍Venue: CR-W2-04

💻 Zoom Details :

https://asb-my.zoom.us/j/96383463112?pwd=CtCa6sH86G95jfB62SiGDH5UwBQdaR.1

Meeting ID: 963 8346 3112

Passcode: 609303

Abstract

Many loyalty programs award consumers a proprietary points currency that accumulates over time and can be redeemed in future purchases, effectively giving firms two pricing instruments: a dollar price and a points requirement. We study how this two-currency structure reshapes competitive pricing incentives in a two-period Hotelling model where a fraction of consumers enroll in loyalty programs and receive a points endowment in period one. In period two, firms simultaneously set dollar prices and points requirements for redemption. We characterize subgame-perfect equilibria and identify a simple organizing principle: points become an active strategic instrument when the firm-side value of redeemed points exceeds consumers’ effective opportunity cost of spending them. When this condition holds, points soften price competition in both periods relative to a no-rewards benchmark, raising equilibrium prices and total discounted profits. When it fails, the program collapses to a one-currency benchmark and generates no strategic pricing advantage. We show that this two-currency mechanism differs fundamentally from behavior-based pricing, which intensifies competition, and from switching-cost models, which create exogenous consumer lock-in. Extensions incorporating point expiration, endogenous reward endowments, and heterogeneous point valuations reinforce the central mechanism. Our results offer a conditions-based explanation for why some loyalty programs are highly profitable while others are not.

Speaker Bio

Professor Nanda Kumar is a Full Professor of Marketing at the University of Texas at Dallas, with over two decades of experience in quantitative marketing and competitive strategy. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and has built an internationally recognized research portfolio in pricing, advertising, distribution channels, and product bundling. His work has been published in leading academic journals and has contributed significantly to the understanding of firm competition, consumer behavior, and marketing strategy.

Beyond his research, Professor Kumar is a respected educator, mentor, and academic leader. He has taught at renowned institutions including INSEAD and the Indian School of Business, supervised numerous doctoral students, and played key roles in faculty development and research initiatives. Recognized for both teaching excellence and Ph.D. mentorship, he is known for combining scholarly rigor, academic leadership, and a strong commitment to developing future researchers.