Subscribing to an All-You-Can-Read E-Bookstore: Tariff Choice, and Contract Renewal for E-Book Purchases

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

E-book markets are currently moving through a period of disequilibrium as new pricing structures (i.e., flat-fee subscriptions) are rapidly embraced by major vendors. On the basis of a novel dataset, we investigate how the availability of “all-you-can-read” pricing programs influences consumers’ tariff choice and contract renewal behaviors. Consistent with the rational choice framework, the findings suggest that most e-book consumers significantly gain from subscription-based tariffs. Power readers prefer flat-fee subscriptions, and those that have economically benefited renew their subscription. However, we also find some other intriguing results. Among the three subscription designs examined, the 1-week plan affords consumers more economic benefits than do 1-day or 1-month programs. Finally, iOS users are more inclined to select subscription models than are Android users because of the absence of in-app purchase functionalities for the former. The unavailability of in-app purchase affects tariff choices and transaction patterns as it increases transaction costs.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 이동주, "가입형 정보통신 서비스의 구매 후 고객선택모형" 한국경영정보학회 8 (8): 159-179, 2006

2 Choudhary, V., "Use of pricing schemes for differentiating information goods" 21 (21): 78-92, 2010

3 Soman, D., "Transaction decoupling : How price bundling affects the decision to consume" 38 (38): 30-44, 2001

4 Hoch, S. J., "Time-inconsistent preferences and consumer self-control" 17 (17): 492-507, 1991

5 Prelec, D., "The red and the black : Mental accounting of savings and debt" 17 (17): 4-28, 1998

6 Just, D., "The flat-rate pricing paradox: Conflicting effects of “All-You-CanEat” buffet pricing" 93 (93): 193-200, 2011

7 Train, K. E., "The demand for local telephone service : A fully discrete model of residential calling patterns and service choices" 18 (18): 109-123, 1987

8 Goettler, R. L., "Tariff choice with consumer learning and switching costs" 48 (48): 633-652, 2011

9 Koenker, R., "Regression quantiles" 46 (46): 33-50, 1978

10 Lambrecht, A., "Paying too much and being happy about it : Existence, causes, and consequences of tariff-choice biases" 43 (43): 212-223, 2006

11 DellaVigna, S., "Paying not to go to the gym" 96 (96): 694-719, 2006

12 Kridel, D. J., "Option value, telecommunications demand, and policy" 5 (5): 125-144, 1993

13 Fishburn, P., "Fixed versus unit pricing for information goods : Competition, equilibria, and price wars" 2 (2): 1997

14 양서정, "Does the SaaS Model Really Increase Customer Benefits?" 한국경영정보학회 20 (20): 87-101, 2010

15 Coussement, K., "Customer churn prediction in the online gambling industry : The beneficial effect of ensemble learning" 66 (66): 1629-1636, 2013

16 Miravete, E. J., "Choosing the wrong calling plan? Ignorance and learning" 93 (93): 297-310, 2003

17 Yang, S., "Best pricing strategy for information services" 20 (20): 87-101, 2010