Zhiyong Zhang , Hongke Zhao , Baofeng Huo , Ming He
{"title":"免费试用还是不免费试用?具有正负网络效应的电子产品的最优政策","authors":"Zhiyong Zhang , Hongke Zhao , Baofeng Huo , Ming He","doi":"10.1016/j.omega.2023.103022","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The rapid development and widespread application of the new generation information technology has not only promoted innovation in traditional business models, but also has even created new business models and new industries. The free trial, as one of the new business models, has been utilized by major enterprises to advertise and promote their products in the expectation of receiving more attention from consumers, increasing the potential value of products. However, the accompanying problem of setting the number of lucky customers and free trial operation scheme properly should be handled urgently. In reality, the purchasing decision of the consumer is influenced by a variety of factors, such as reviews, trial campaigns. Meanwhile, consumers have positive and negative perceptions of products and activities, which could be transmitted to surrounding consumers. Consequently, this paper discusses the problem of the free trial policy for the electronic product by considering the positive and negative network effects. It is attempted to be solved both theoretically and empirically. The consumer network utility, demand and product profit models are proposed to solve the problem, which produces empirically testable hypotheses and Management propositions. Then, these hypotheses are tested and these management propositions are validated by utilizing real operational data from Lenovo Mall. The test and validation results indicate that there is a significant increase in the price and demand for products after the merchant taking the free trial. Moreover, although the operating costs of the merchant are increased, a much larger boost is provided by the free trial to the merchant in total profit. It is worthwhile considering the accuracy in identifying the valuable consumer, which the success of the free trial depends on.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":19529,"journal":{"name":"Omega-international Journal of Management Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Free trial or no free trial: Optimal policy of electronic products with positive and negative network effects\",\"authors\":\"Zhiyong Zhang , Hongke Zhao , Baofeng Huo , Ming He\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.omega.2023.103022\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><p>The rapid development and widespread application of the new generation information technology has not only promoted innovation in traditional business models, but also has even created new business models and new industries. The free trial, as one of the new business models, has been utilized by major enterprises to advertise and promote their products in the expectation of receiving more attention from consumers, increasing the potential value of products. However, the accompanying problem of setting the number of lucky customers and free trial operation scheme properly should be handled urgently. In reality, the purchasing decision of the consumer is influenced by a variety of factors, such as reviews, trial campaigns. Meanwhile, consumers have positive and negative perceptions of products and activities, which could be transmitted to surrounding consumers. Consequently, this paper discusses the problem of the free trial policy for the electronic product by considering the positive and negative network effects. It is attempted to be solved both theoretically and empirically. The consumer network utility, demand and product profit models are proposed to solve the problem, which produces empirically testable hypotheses and Management propositions. Then, these hypotheses are tested and these management propositions are validated by utilizing real operational data from Lenovo Mall. The test and validation results indicate that there is a significant increase in the price and demand for products after the merchant taking the free trial. Moreover, although the operating costs of the merchant are increased, a much larger boost is provided by the free trial to the merchant in total profit. It is worthwhile considering the accuracy in identifying the valuable consumer, which the success of the free trial depends on.</p></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":19529,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Omega-international Journal of Management Science\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":6.7000,\"publicationDate\":\"2023-12-28\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Omega-international Journal of Management Science\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"91\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030504832300186X\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"管理学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"MANAGEMENT\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Omega-international Journal of Management Science","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030504832300186X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}
Free trial or no free trial: Optimal policy of electronic products with positive and negative network effects
The rapid development and widespread application of the new generation information technology has not only promoted innovation in traditional business models, but also has even created new business models and new industries. The free trial, as one of the new business models, has been utilized by major enterprises to advertise and promote their products in the expectation of receiving more attention from consumers, increasing the potential value of products. However, the accompanying problem of setting the number of lucky customers and free trial operation scheme properly should be handled urgently. In reality, the purchasing decision of the consumer is influenced by a variety of factors, such as reviews, trial campaigns. Meanwhile, consumers have positive and negative perceptions of products and activities, which could be transmitted to surrounding consumers. Consequently, this paper discusses the problem of the free trial policy for the electronic product by considering the positive and negative network effects. It is attempted to be solved both theoretically and empirically. The consumer network utility, demand and product profit models are proposed to solve the problem, which produces empirically testable hypotheses and Management propositions. Then, these hypotheses are tested and these management propositions are validated by utilizing real operational data from Lenovo Mall. The test and validation results indicate that there is a significant increase in the price and demand for products after the merchant taking the free trial. Moreover, although the operating costs of the merchant are increased, a much larger boost is provided by the free trial to the merchant in total profit. It is worthwhile considering the accuracy in identifying the valuable consumer, which the success of the free trial depends on.
期刊介绍:
Omega reports on developments in management, including the latest research results and applications. Original contributions and review articles describe the state of the art in specific fields or functions of management, while there are shorter critical assessments of particular management techniques. Other features of the journal are the "Memoranda" section for short communications and "Feedback", a correspondence column. Omega is both stimulating reading and an important source for practising managers, specialists in management services, operational research workers and management scientists, management consultants, academics, students and research personnel throughout the world. The material published is of high quality and relevance, written in a manner which makes it accessible to all of this wide-ranging readership. Preference will be given to papers with implications to the practice of management. Submissions of purely theoretical papers are discouraged. The review of material for publication in the journal reflects this aim.