IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v206y2018icp184-195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital pricing with piracy and variety seeking

Author

Listed:
  • Ning, Yu
  • Xu, Su Xiu
  • Yan, Mian
  • Huang, George Q.

Abstract

This paper aims to explore behavioral digital pricing which incorporates realistic consumer behavior into firms' pricing and anti-piracy investment models. We consider a duopoly market with an original company and a pirated group selling digital products. The demand is sensitive to both parties' prices. We extend the traditional Hotelling model by taking into account the effects of externality on both parties. We then propose three types of price competition games: (I) Cournot model, (II) Stackelberg model with the original company as the leader, and (III) the Stackelberg model with the pirated group as the leader. In model II, if the value of externality effects is lower than a threshold, the original company will benefit from the government anti-piracy policy that tolerates some piracy. Finally, we investigate the behavior of consumer variety seeking in a two-period Cournot model. With the presence of variety seeking, both the original and pirated parties will adopt higher prices in the first period. Surprisingly, variety seeking brings higher profits to both parties in two periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Ning, Yu & Xu, Su Xiu & Yan, Mian & Huang, George Q., 2018. "Digital pricing with piracy and variety seeking," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 184-195.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:206:y:2018:i:c:p:184-195
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2018.09.026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527318303967
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2018.09.026?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Herings, P. Jean-Jacques & Peeters, Ronald & Yang, Michael S., 2018. "Piracy on the Internet: Accommodate it or fight it? A dynamic approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 266(1), pages 328-339.
    2. S. Sajeesh & Jagmohan S. Raju, 2010. "Positioning and Pricing in a Variety Seeking Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(6), pages 949-961, June.
    3. Emine Sarigollu & David C. Schmittlein, 1996. "The effect of variety seeking behaviour on optimal product positioning," Applied Stochastic Models and Data Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), pages 27-44, March.
    4. Khouja, Moutaz & Smith, Michael Alan, 2007. "Optimal pricing for information goods with piracy and saturation effect," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(1), pages 482-497, January.
    5. Osborne, Martin J & Pitchik, Carolyn, 1987. "Equilibrium in Hotelling's Model of Spatial Competition," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(4), pages 911-922, July.
    6. P. B. Seetharaman & Hai Che, 2009. "Price Competition in Markets with Consumer Variety Seeking," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 516-525, 05-06.
    7. Avinadav, Tal & Chernonog, Tatyana & Perlman, Yael, 2014. "Analysis of protection and pricing strategies for digital products under uncertain demand," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 54-64.
    8. Paul Klemperer, 1987. "Markets with Consumer Switching Costs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 102(2), pages 375-394.
    9. Xu, Su Xiu & Lu, Qiang & Huang, George Q. & Zhang, Ting, 2013. "Scope economies, market information, and make-or-buy decision under asymmetric information," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1), pages 339-348.
    10. M Khouja & H K Rajagopalan, 2009. "Can piracy lead to higher prices in the music and motion picture industries?," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(3), pages 372-383, March.
    11. Huang, Yeu-Shiang & Lin, Shin-Hua & Fang, Chih-Chiang, 2017. "Pricing and coordination with consideration of piracy for digital goods in supply chains," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 30-40.
    12. Waters, James, 2015. "Welfare implications of piracy with dynamic pricing and heterogeneous consumers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 904-911.
    13. Klemperer, Paul D, 1987. "Entry Deterrence in Markets with Consumer Switching Costs," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(388a), pages 99-117, Supplemen.
    14. Kogan, Konstantin & Ozinci, Yaacov & Perlman, Yael, 2013. "Containing piracy with product pricing, updating and protection investments," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 468-478.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ning, Yu & Yan, Mian & Xu, Su Xiu & Li, Yina & Li, Lixu, 2021. "Shared parking acceptance under perceived network externality and risks: Theory and evidence," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 1-15.
    2. Dan Wu & Guofang Nan & Minqiang Li, 2020. "Optimal Piracy Control: Should a Firm Implement Digital Rights Management?," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 947-960, August.
    3. Pazoki, Mostafa & Samarghandi, Hamed, 2021. "Word-Of-Mouth and estimating demand based on network structure and epidemic models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 291(1), pages 323-334.
    4. Liyang Xiong & Honglei Yu & Zhanqing Wang, 2021. "Competition in a Variety Seeking Market With Brand Name Awareness," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    5. Adhikari, Arnab & Sharma, Megha & Basu, Sumanta & Jha, Ashish Kumar, 2022. "Uniform or spatially differentiated? Pricing Strategies for Information Goods under simultaneous and sequential decision-making in multi-market context," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Yu Ning & Su Xiu Xu & George Q. Huang & Xudong Lin, 2021. "Optimal digital product auctions with unlimited supply and rebidding behavior," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 307(1), pages 399-416, December.
    7. Peng, Shuxia & Li, Bo & Wu, Shuang, 2023. "Presence of piracy and legal protection: Decisions in the digital goods market under different contracts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(2), pages 578-596.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yu Ning & Su Xiu Xu & George Q. Huang & Xudong Lin, 2021. "Optimal digital product auctions with unlimited supply and rebidding behavior," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 307(1), pages 399-416, December.
    2. Dan Wu & Guofang Nan & Minqiang Li, 2020. "Optimal Piracy Control: Should a Firm Implement Digital Rights Management?," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 947-960, August.
    3. Liyang Xiong & Honglei Yu & Zhanqing Wang, 2021. "Competition in a Variety Seeking Market With Brand Name Awareness," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    4. Nagengast, Liane & Evanschitzky, Heiner & Blut, Markus & Rudolph, Thomas, 2014. "New Insights in the Moderating Effect of Switching Costs on the Satisfaction–Repurchase Behavior Link," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 408-427.
    5. Junhyun Bae & Li Chen & Shiqing Yao, 2022. "Service Capacity and Price Promotion Wars," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 8757-8772, December.
    6. Zhao, Li & Tian, Peng & Xiangyong Li, 2012. "Dynamic pricing in the presence of consumer inertia," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 137-148, April.
    7. Waters, James, 2015. "Welfare implications of piracy with dynamic pricing and heterogeneous consumers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 904-911.
    8. Bouckaert, Jan & Degryse, Hans & Provoost, Thomas, 2010. "Enhancing market power by reducing switching costs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 131-133, November.
    9. Jean-Bernard Chatelain, 1999. "Taux de marge et structure financière," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 53, pages 127-147.
    10. Chakravarthi Narasimhan & Z. John Zhang, 2000. "Market Entry Strategy Under Firm Heterogeneity and Asymmetric Payoffs," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(4), pages 313-327, November.
    11. Langus, Gregor & Lipatov, Vilen, 2008. "On Quantity Competition With Switching Costs," MPRA Paper 15457, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. E. Avenel, 2008. "Strategic Vertical Integration Without Foreclosure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 247-262, June.
    13. Christiaan Behrens & Nathalie McCaughey, 2015. "Loyalty Programs and Consumer Behaviour: The Impact of FFPs on Consumer Surplus," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 15-048/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Gayle, Philip G. & Wu, Chi-Yin, 2013. "A re-examination of incumbents’ response to the threat of entry: Evidence from the airline industry," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 119-130.
    15. Pascal Michaillat & Emmanuel Saez, 2015. "Aggregate Demand, Idle Time, and Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(2), pages 507-569.
    16. Ramani, Vinay & De Giovanni, Pietro, 2017. "A two-period model of product cannibalization in an atypical Closed-loop Supply Chain with endogenous returns: The case of DellReconnect," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 262(3), pages 1009-1027.
    17. Laussel, Didier & Resende, Joana, 2014. "Dynamic price competition in aftermarkets with network effects," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 106-118.
    18. Walter Beckert & Paolo Siciliani, 2018. "Protecting Vulnerable Consumers in "Switching Markets"," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 1808, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    19. Kemnitz Alexander, 2013. "A Simple Model of Health Insurance Competition," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 14(4), pages 432-448, December.
    20. Howard Smith & Simon Latcovich, 2000. "Sinking the Internet: Pricing, Sunk Costs, and Market Structure Online," Economics Series Working Papers 36, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:206:y:2018:i:c:p:184-195. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.