Abstract: In practice, although remanufactured products compete with new products, well-known Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) typically engage in remanufacturing operations with Third - Party Remanufacturers (TPRs) through two cooperation models: outsourcing and authorization due to considerations of brand image, intellectual property, and distribution channels. The two models exhibit substantial differences in pricing authority and profit allocation, making the selection of remanufacturing modes strategically critical. Concurrently, consumer ambiguity regarding the quality attributes of remanufactured products has heightened interest in blockchain technology. Some OEMs employ blockchain systems to provide TPRs with certification services that enhance consumer trust. However, persistent biases against remanufactured products and blockchain implementation costs not only undermine TPRs’ motivations for blockchain adoption but also amplify the complexity of operational mode selection for both parties, thereby diminishing blockchain’s potential value. Existing research rarely integrates the analysis of cooperative models in remanufacturing supply chains with blockchain adoption strategies. This study employs game theory integrated with decision optimization approaches and computer simulation methods to systematically investigate blockchain adoption strategies between OEMs and TPRs under different remanufacturing modes. First, based on blockchain’s role in enhancing consumer trust, we derive inverse demand functions for new and remanufactured products with/without blockchain hrough consumer utility analysis combined with the critical payment threshold approach. Second, considering factors including end-of-life product collection costs, remanufacturing cost savings, and blockchain implementation expenses, we construct and solve four decision models corresponding to different operational modes and blockchain strategies: outsourcing without blockchain (ON), outsourcing with blockchain (OB), authorization without blockchain (AN), and authorization with blockchain (AB). Third, by analyzing the equilibrium solutions, we examine blockchain’s impacts on remanufactured product pricing, market demand, and economic profits, revealing distinct blockchain adoption motivations under outsourcing versus authorization modes. The preference mechanisms for cooperative modes are further elucidated through dual perspectives of economic benefits and blockchain value creation. Finally, extended investigations evaluate supply chain performance and mode selection under hybrid blockchain strategies. The research findings reveal that under both outsourcing and authorization modes, blockchain adoption facilitates a “win-win” scenario by increasing remanufactured product quantities when unit blockchain costs remain below a critical threshold. However, the increase in unit blockchain costs may transform it into either a “conflict-of-interest” trigger or even a “lose-lose” proposition. From an economic profit perspective, OEMs consistently prefer outsourcing regardless of blockchain adoption status. Yet regarding blockchain’s economic value creation, OEMs may favor authorization mode only when blockchain costs are relatively high. For TPRs, remanufacturing mode preferences depend on four critical parameters: remanufactured product valuation discounts, blockchain-driven trust enhancement, unit blockchain costs, and end-of-life product recovery cost coefficients. Hybrid blockchain strategies demonstrate dual advantages in boosting remanufactured product demand while reducing blockchain-associated pricing premiums. Such strategies are mutually preferred by both OEMs and TPRs unless confronted with exceptionally high recovery cost coefficients. This study provides theoretical and managerial implications for optimizing remanufacturing closed-loop supply chain operations while enhancing synergistic value creation across economic and environmental dimensions. It is also conducive to the promotion of blockchain technology under complex conditions, and provides a reference path for the digital and green transformation of manufacturing enterprises.

Key words: remanufacturing supply chain, production competition, remanufacturing mode selection, blockchain adoption