受消费者个人内在偏好和网络外部影响下软件公司最优策略选择研究

Research on the optimal strategy selection of software firm affected by consumers′intrinsic preferences and network externalities

软件公司额外提供免费基础版本可以利用网络外部性进行引流,然而消费者作为复杂的行为体,在选择产品时对其质量和价格还存在个人内在偏好,免费版本吸引潜在质量敏感型消费者购买付费版本的同时,亦可能蚕食价格敏感型消费者的付费需求,合适的免费策略及其相应付费版本的定价策略对软件公司的利润有至关重要的影响。本文研究了垄断型软件公司面对质量敏感型和价格敏感型消费者时,采取单一收费策略还是免费+收费结合策略的问题,结合显著性和网络外部性构建消费者效用函数,得到不同策略下公司最优定价、需求和利润,同时给出了免费版本的最优质量水平。研究表明在价格敏感型市场中,只有当消费者显著性水平小于一定阈值时,软件公司才会在网络外部性较强时采取免费+收费结合策略;在质量敏感型市场中,无论消费者处于何种显著性水平,软件公司均可在网络外部性较强时采取免费+收费结合策略。当消费者使用软件成本较大时,质量敏感型市场利润高于价格敏感型市场,软件公司制定宣传策略时需要突出其质量优势,引导消费者对质量更为偏好,否则相反。两种类型市场中,公司采取免费+收费结合策略时免费版本均存在最优的质量水平。

As the society develops and the awareness of copyright among consumers increases,the conversion rate of paying users of software products continues its increasing trend.In order to attract more consumers to purchase software products,software firms have launched various marketing strategies to attract consumers.Among them,the freemium strategy is commonly adopted.That is to say,software firms provide users with two versions at the same time.One is the basic version which is permanently free to use,but limited to some basic functions and services,so that the quality is inferior.The other is the paid value-added version,with more functions and service offered,so that the quality is superior.Since software products are characterized by network externalities,the larger the number of users,the more benefits it delivers to consumers.Therefore,software firms can rely on the offering of basic version products to divert traffic.When faced with choices,however,different consumers tend to have different personal own preferences in quality and price.The freemium strategy holds a potential to attract the potential consumers who are sensitive to quality,or Cannibalize the sales contributed to by those price-sensitive consumers.When buying software products,consumers will give consideration to not only the level of inventory,but also their own preferences,thus adding to the difficulty for software firms to deal with strategic decision-making and pricing.This paper explores whether a monopolistic software firm need to adopt the freemium strategy and optimal pricing strategy for the sale of paid version targeted at quality-sensitive and price-sensitive consumers,based on which the optimal quality level of free versions is determined.To achieve this goal,a model is constructed.Firstly,the salience theory is applied to classify consumers into price-sensitive and quality-sensitive depending on their personal own preferences for price attributes and quality attributes.On this basis,salience and network externalities are combined to construct consumer utility function,so as to determine the needs and profit of software firms under different strategies.Then,to maximize the profit generated for the software firm,the optimal pricing and profit for its paid version under different strategies are determined,for subsequent comparison to figure out the appropriate conditions for different strategies.Finally,numerical simulation is performed to validate the conclusion.In the first part,a study is conducted on the scenario of a price-sensitive market comprised of price-sensitive consumers.By comparing the optimal profits when a single charging strategy and a freemium strategy are applied by software firm in this market,an analysis is conducted regarding the influence of the level of salience and the strength of network externalities on the selection of strategy,so as to determine the appropriate market conditions for software firms to adopt different strategies.Then,a comparison is performed in the optimal pricing and demand under different strategies,which leads to the finding that its optimal pricing increases and demand decreases when a software firm adopts the freemium strategy.In addition,a study is carried out on the influence made by the quality of the free version on the optimal profit when the software firm adopts the freemium strategy,based on which the optimal quality level of the free version is determined.In the second part,the circumstance where a quality-sensitive market is comprised of quality-sensitive consumers is studied.Similarly,through a comparison in the optimal profits generated for the monopolistic software firm under the single charging strategy and the freemium strategy,it is figure out how the software firm in the quality-sensitive market should make strategic choices based on the level of salience and the strength of network externalities.In addition,the optimal level of quality is determined for the free version provided by the software firm in the quality-sensitive market.In the third part,the optimal pricing of the firm in the price-sensitive market and the quality-sensitive market is compared and analyzed under each strategy.Firstly,under the single charging strategy,the optimal pricing in the quality-sensitive market is invariably higher than in the price-sensitive market.Secondly,under the freemium strategy,the optimal pricing in the quality-sensitive market is higher than in price-sensitive market when it incurs more costs for consumers to use software.In addition,through the comparison in the optimal profits in the two markets,the conditions that the software firm need to cultivate the preference of consumers for quality or price are obtained,thus providing a reference for the firm to formulate its publicity strategy.According to the research results,in the price-sensitive market,only when the level of salience falls below a certain threshold,software firm will adopt a freemium strategy in the presence of strong network externalities.In a quality-sensitive market,consumers can be at any level of salience,which means software firm can adopt the freemium strategy when the strength of network externalities is strong.In both types of markets,when the freemium strategy is adopted,the level of pricing increases,while demand for paid versions is reduced.Therefore,the firm need to weigh up the differences between the two and determine the optimal level of quality for the free version when additional free versions are offered.In addition,by comparing the profits achieved in the two markets,it can be found out that the profit of the quality-sensitive market is higher than in the price-sensitive market when it incurs more costs for consumers to use software.In this scenario,when publicity strategies are formulated,the software firm need to highlight the advantages of their product in quality and guide consumers towards the preference for quality attributes.Otherwise,the opposite is true.