Start Date
10-12-2017 12:00 AM
Description
Online content providers are constantly vying for customers’ attention. Utilizing a dataset from a Chinese social media site for investors, we empirically examine the extent of readership competition among content providers in terms of both pricing and content strategies in a network of providers where we differentiate between followees, followers and non-connectors of a provider. We employ econometric modeling techniques in our empirical analysis. Preliminary results show that followees’ and non-connectors’ content and pricing serve as complements to a provider’s content. We make several contributions. First, we advance the paid content literature by examining the influence of price competition on demand for content. Second, we extend the information goods pricing literature by investigating the interplay of pricing and content differentiation strategies. Third, we show how the network structure of content providers shapes the relationship between their products. Our results also help guide providers to strategically price and differentiate content.
Recommended Citation
Li, Ding; Goh, Khim Yong; and HENG, Cheng Suang, "Price Competition and Demand for Online Content: Uncovering the Role of Content Differentiation and Network Structure" (2017). ICIS 2017 Proceedings. 15.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2017/Economics/Presentations/15
Price Competition and Demand for Online Content: Uncovering the Role of Content Differentiation and Network Structure
Online content providers are constantly vying for customers’ attention. Utilizing a dataset from a Chinese social media site for investors, we empirically examine the extent of readership competition among content providers in terms of both pricing and content strategies in a network of providers where we differentiate between followees, followers and non-connectors of a provider. We employ econometric modeling techniques in our empirical analysis. Preliminary results show that followees’ and non-connectors’ content and pricing serve as complements to a provider’s content. We make several contributions. First, we advance the paid content literature by examining the influence of price competition on demand for content. Second, we extend the information goods pricing literature by investigating the interplay of pricing and content differentiation strategies. Third, we show how the network structure of content providers shapes the relationship between their products. Our results also help guide providers to strategically price and differentiate content.