考虑消费者偏好差异的网络视频平台和广告商决策研究

Online Video Platform and Advertiser Decisions with the Difference in Consumer Preference

付费和免费并存是近年来涌现的网络视频提供新模式。本文针对同时提供付费和免费视频的网络视频运营平台以及向平台投放广告的广告商,考虑存在不同消费者偏好主导的市场环境下,探讨基于视频热度的平台视频划分策略、订阅费定价以及广告商的广告投放策略。研究结果表明:(1)在以视频热度为主导的消费者市场中,随着消费者对视频热度的敏感系数增大,平台会提高订阅费价格,同时广告商会提高广告投放水平;随着免费消费者规模给广告商带来的网络外部性强度的提升,广告商会提高广告投放水平,平台会提高订阅费价格并减少免费视频的提供。(2)在以付费意愿为主导的消费者市场中,当广告投放价格较高时,随着消费者对视频热度的敏感系数增大,平台提高免费视频比例;随着免费消费者规模给广告商带来的网络外部性强度的提升,广告商会提高广告投放水平,平台会增加免费视频的提供比例。(3)随着视频热度为主导的消费者规模的扩大,平台提供的免费视频比例会降低,而订阅费定价则会提高;随着付费意愿为主导的消费者规模的扩大,则反之。当以视频热度为主导的消费者规模较大时,广告商不会向平台投放广告。本文的研究成果对网络视频的平台运营商和广告商有一定的管理启示与应用价值。

“Paid+free” is a popular business model on online video platforms in recent years. The platform’s video delivery strategy, subscription pricing, and advertisers’ advertising strategies are explored, while considering consumer preferences.The existence of a market for online video platforms and an advertiser is considered. The platform simultaneously offers video to consumers in two models: a paid model and a free model in which video content is loaded with ads. Drawing on the Hotelling linear city model, consider platforms that offer free and paid products respectively located on a linear city with unit length and in which consumers are uniformly distributed. The decision process is divided into two stages: in the first stage, the platform determines the division ratio between paid and free videos based on video hotness attributes;all video resources are divided into paid videos with higher hotness attributes and free videos with lower hotness levels;in the second stage, the platform determines the subscription fee price for paid videos, while advertisers determine the ad placement level based on the size of free consumers. Free consumers can only watch free videos, while paid consumers can watch all videos.The findings show that in the video hotness-driven market, as consumers’ sensitivity to video heat increases, platform increases the price of subscription fees while advertiser increases the intensity of advertising;as the strength of the cross-network externality brought by the size of free consumers to advertiser increases, advertiser increases the intensity of advertising, and platform increases the price of subscription fees and reduces the availability of free videos. In the willingness-to-pay-driven market, platform increases the proportion of free videos as consumers’ sensitivity to video heat increases when the price of ad placement is high;as the strength of the cross-network externality brought by the size of free consumers to advertiser increases, advertiser increases the intensity of ad placement and platform increases the proportion of free videos offered. As the size of consumers in VHDM grows, the proportion of free videos offered by the platform decreases while the subscription fee pricing increases;as the size of consumers in WPDM grows, the opposite is true. Advertisers do not advertise to the platform when the size of VHDM consumers is large. When there are more VHDM consumers, advertisers do not place ads to the platform. The research results of this paper have some management insight and application value for operators and advertisers of online video.