SaaS模式下免费试用质量与试用时长的组合策略研究

Research on Optimal Portfolio Strategy of Free Trial Quality and Trial Duration in SaaS Model

免费试用是软件即服务(SaaS)运营商获取用户的主要方式,也是一种成本高昂的营销手段。SaaS运营商的一个主要决策问题是在何种市场情境采用何种免费试用策略,以实现最大收益。本研究提出了SaaS用户体验模型,描述SaaS用户试用体验前后感知质量分布,构建SaaS服务的试用质量与试用时长组合优化模型。研究发现:针对市场“低估”SaaS服务质量且质量感知处于“高不确定”情境时,SaaS运营商应采用“高试用质量+低试用时长”的限时试用策略;当市场处于“低估+低不确定”情境时,运营商应采用“高试用质量+高试用时长”的混合试用策略,从而扭转市场对服务质量的过低估计;针对市场“高估”SaaS服务质量且质量感知处于“高不确定”情境下,运营商应采用“低试用质量+高试用时长”的功能限制型试用策略;当市场处于“高估+低不确定”情境时,运营商应采用“低试用质量+低试用时长”的混合试用策略。此外,本文还分析了SaaS运营商的技术学习率对四类市场情境下试用策略的影响。

Free trial is a primary and expensive method for SaaS cloud service operators to acquire users.Therefore,a key issue for decision-makers is to determine what trial strategies are most profitable in what market contexts for operators.In this study,the SaaS user experience model is proposed to describe the perceived quality distribution before and after the trial experience of SaaS users.The optimization model for the portfolio strategy of trial quality and trial duration is constructed for SaaS cloud service.The research finds that:When SaaS service market underestimates service quality and its perceived uncertainty is in a“high uncertainty”situation,SaaS operators should adopt the time-limited trial strategy of“high trial quality+low trial duration”;When the market is in the situation of“underestimation+low uncertainty”,operators should adopt the mixed trial strategy of“high trial quality+high trial duration”to reverse the market’s underestimation of service quality;When the market overestimates SaaS service quality and the quality perception is in the situation of“high uncertainty”,operators should adopt the functional-limited trial strategy of“low trial quality+high trial duration”;When the market is in the situation of“overestimation+low uncertainty”,operators should adopt the mixed trial strategy of“low trial quality+low trial duration”.This paper also analyzes the impact of SaaS operators’learning factor on trial strategies in four market contexts.