• Information Systems Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.91-111
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• 2020

E-book markets are currently moving through a period of disequilibrium as new pricing structures (i.e., flat-fee subscriptions) are rapidly embraced by major vendors. On the basis of a novel dataset, we investigate how the availability of "all-you-can-read" pricing programs influences consumers' tariff choice and contract renewal behaviors. Consistent with the rational choice framework, the findings suggest that most e-book consumers significantly gain from subscription-based tariffs. Power readers prefer flat-fee subscriptions, and those that have economically benefited renew their subscription. However, we also find some other intriguing results. Among the three subscription designs examined, the 1-week plan affords consumers more economic benefits than do 1-day or 1-month programs. Finally, iOS users are more inclined to select subscription models than are Android users because of the absence of in-app purchase functionalities for the former. The unavailability of in-app purchase affects tariff choices and transaction patterns as it increases transaction costs.

• Journal of the Korean Operations Research and Management Science Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.55-79
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• 2010

This study deals with a model for platform competition in a two-sided market. We suppose there are both direct and indirect network externalities between suppliers and users of each platform. Moreover, we suppose that both users and suppliers are distributed in their relative affinity for each platform type. That is, each user [supplier] has his/her own preferential position toward each platform, and users [suppliers] are horizontally differentiated over [0, 1]. And for analytical tractability, some parameters like direct and indirect network externalities are the same across the markets. Given the parameters and the pricing profile, users and suppliers conduct subscription game, where participants select the platform that gives them the highest payoffs. This game proceeds according to a replicator dynamics of the evolutionary game, which is simplified by properly defining gains from participant's strategy in the subscription game. We find that depending on the strength of these network effects, there might either be multiple stable equilibria, at which users and suppliers distribute across both platforms, or one unstable interior equilibrium corresponding to the market tipping in favor of either platform. In both cases, we also consider the pricing power of competing platform providers under the framework of the Stackelberg game. In particular, our study examines the possible effects of the type of competition between platform providers, which may constrain the equilibrium selection in the subscription game.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.658-669
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• 2016

The tremendous increase in mobile data traffic coupled with fierce competition in wireless industry brings about spectrum scarcity and bandwidth fragmentation. This inevitably results in asymmetric-valued long term evolution (LTE) spectrum allocation that stems from different timing for twice improvement in capacity between competing operators, given spectrum allocations today. This motivates us to study the economic effects of asymmetric-valued LTE spectrum allocation. In this paper, we formulate the interactions between operators and users as a hierarchical dynamic game framework, where two spiteful operators simultaneously make spectrum acquisition decisions in the upper-level first-price sealed-bid auction game, and dynamic pricing decisions in the lower-level differential game, taking into account user subscription dynamics. Using backward induction, we derive the equilibrium of the entire game under mild conditions. Through analytical and numerical results, we verify our studies by comparing the latest result of LTE spectrum auction in South Korea, which serves as the benchmark of asymmetric-valued LTE spectrum auction designs.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3068-3085
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• 2021

The economics of big data knowledge, especially cloud computing and statistical data of consumer preferences, has attracted increasing academic and industry practitioners' attention. Firms nowadays require purchasing not only external private patent knowledge from other firms, but also proprietary big data knowledge to support their new product development. Extant research investigates pricing strategies of external private patent knowledge and proprietary big data knowledge separately. Yet, a comprehensive investigation of pricing strategies of these two types of knowledge is in pressing need. This research constructs an overarching pricing model of external private patent knowledge and proprietary big data knowledge through the lens of firm profitability as a knowledge transaction recipient. The proposed model can help those firms who purchase external knowledge choose the optimal knowledge structure and pricing strategies of two types of knowledge, and provide theoretical and methodological guidance for knowledge transaction recipient firms to negotiate with knowledge providers.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.1-26
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• 2022

This study classified five types of online food subscription economy: replenishment, curation, surprise, membership, and visitation. An online survey was conducted with 314 customers who experienced 5 types of online subscription economy. This study selected the characteristics of the food subscription economy as convenience, perceived personalization, economic utility, and timeliness through previous studies. The effect of the four characteristics on perceived value (utilitarian and emotional) and the relationship between customer engagement and perceived value, which are dependent variables that have never been used in the food subscription economy, were verified through the S-O-R model. In this relationship, we demonstrated how consumers' personal tendencies, such as need for cognitive closure and self-efficacy, mediate between timeliness and perceived value related to online food delivery. The study results are as follows. Perceived personalization, convenience, and timeliness had a positive effect on the utilitarian value in the order. It also had a positive effect on emotional values in the order of perceived personalization and timeliness. On the other hand, economic utility had no significant effect on practical branches. Customer engagement had a positive effect in the order of emotional value and utilitarian value. The lower the need for cognitive closure the more positive the utilitarian value. The lower the self-efficacy, the more positive the emotional value was perceived. Through the above study, companies that want to operate or start an online food subscription economy need a strategic approach rather than unreasonable price discounts in pricing policy. In addition, it is necessary to focus on marketing activities that provide emotional value by focusing on perceived personalization, which is the satisfaction factor of online food subscription.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2021

Online streaming wars are intensifying. Netflix is known as the market leader in the streaming business. However, since 2019, Netflix has been losing subscribers in the United States and is at a turning point where it needs to reassess its current position in the market. While Netflix is losing dominance, rivals Amazon Prime and Hulu continue to gain market shares. Studies from Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers indicated a new shift in the streaming landscape caused by the abundance of streaming options and rising subscription costs. Recent surveys showed that consumers are excited about new streaming services, such as Disney +. Nearly two-thirds of consumers intend to terminate or downgrade one or more of their current subscriptions to make room for a new service. Moreover, it seems that consumers want ad-supported options. In Deloitte's latest Digital Media Trends survey, 65% responded that they would watch ads to eliminate or reduce subscription costs. Seventy percent of Hulu's subscribers choose its lower-priced ad-supported plan. NBC recently launched its own streaming service, Peacock, with a free ad-supported option. This opposes Netflix's brand identity of "no ads" and premium differentiation. With increasing pressure from competition and the growing risk of subscriber loss, Netflix needs to diversify its price plans. The company could try implementing the lower-priced mobile-only plan they are currently testing or plan to test in other regions. Netflix should also consider features or benefits for loyal subscribers to maintain a stronger consumer base.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.62-74
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• 2021

We compare Over-the-Tops (OTTs), Netflix and Amazon Prime Video (APV) with five success factors of innovation. Firstly, Netflix offers better personalized service than APV, because APV has collaborative filtering algorithms to recommend safe bets, not the customers really want. Secondly, APV' user interface is undercooked to lock the members in, even if it has more content and better price offer than Netflix retaining its loyal customers despite the price increase. Thirdly, Netflix has simple subscription model with three tiering, but APV has complicated pricing model having annual and monthly, APV and Prime Video (AV) app, Amazon subscription and extra payment of Amazon Prime Channels (APCs). Fourthly, Amazon has fewer partnership than Netflix especially when it comes to local TV series. Instead, Amazon has live TV channel collaboration including sports content. Lastly, both have strategic and operational agility in their organization well.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.155-165
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• 2024

Software as a Service (SaaS) has become one of the fastest-growing software business models in recent years. Even during the economic downturn following the pandemic, the SaaS business has emerged as a crucial model for IT companies. The revenue structure of SaaS, which is based on the subscription economy model, ensures that users pay only for the services used. In other words, SaaS operates on a subscription-based billing model, thus providing subscribers access to software uploaded to cloud computers via the Internet. This study aimed to explore the manner by which software-solution firms have to counteract the decline in profit and loss sales caused by changing their business-model orientation from on-premise deployment software to subscription-based software. Additionally it analyzes a method for selecting a subscription-based pricing model and rapidly recovering the investment costs via quantitative business-viability assessment. By calculating subscription fees via a more quantitative business-viability evaluation instead of focusing on conventional business-planning methods that rely on qualitative methods, companies are expected to be equipped in providing services to customers at reasonable costs. This strategy will facilitate them in leading emerging growth sectors.

• 한국산학경영학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.4-22
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• 2004

The Internet provides a new distribution channel of digital contents for conventional media firms such as newspaper, magazine and encyclopedia publishers and broadcasting companies with very low marginal production and distribution cost. In comparison to traditional offline channel, there have been various revenue models in online content markets such as advertising model, subscription model, affiliation fee model, etc. In the earlier of the Internet era, most of online content firms provided their services free in order to boost offline revenue or they depend on advertising revenue sources in lieu of attaining revenue from their contents. However, as many online content firms are confronted with many difficulties in attaining revenues from online advertising model, they began to charge their contents. This paper shows why they charge their contents and explores entry conditions when conventional firms enter online content markets. And also this paper discusses managerial implications related to pricing strategies in online content markets.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.11-19
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• 2013

Internet service providers regulate the maximum data transmission rate of each user as a means to provide a tiered Internet access service or to avoid the monopoly of a few greedy users. In this paper, we aim to analyze the impact of this access rate regulation on the revenue of Internet service provider and the pricing strategy. We first propose a service quality model taking into account the access rate regulation, and analyze how the regulation affects the service subscription decision of users. In addition, we derive a sufficient condition that guarantees the stability of the revenue, and formulate an optimization problem that finds the optimal price to maximize the revenue.