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Pricing and Bundling Electronic Information Goods: Field Evidence

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Abstract

Dramatic increases in the capabilities and decreases in the costs of computers and communication networks have fomented revolutionary thoughts in the scholarly publishing community. In one dimension, traditional pricing schemes and product packages are being modified or replaced. We designed and undertook a large-scale field experiment in pricing and bundling for electronic access to scholarly journals: PEAK. We provided Internet-based delivery of content from 1200 Elsevier Science journals to users at multiple campuses and commercial facilities. Our primary research objective was to generate rich empirical evidence on user behavior when faced with various bundling schemes and price structures. In this article we report initial results. We found that although there is a steep initial learning curve, decision-makers rapidly comprehended our innovative pricing schemes. We also found that our novel and flexible "generalized subscription" was successful at balancing paid usage with easy access to a larger body of content than was previously available to participating institutions. Finally, we found that both monetary and non-monetary user costs have a significant impact on the demand for electronic access.

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  • Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason & Juan F. Riveros & Robert S. Gazzale, "undated". "Pricing and Bundling Electronic Information Goods: Field Evidence," Department of Economics Working Papers 2000-01, Department of Economics, Williams College.
  • Handle: RePEc:wil:wileco:2000-01
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    1. Yannis Bakos & Erik Brynjolfsson, 1999. "Bundling Information Goods: Pricing, Profits, and Efficiency," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(12), pages 1613-1630, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Shin-yi Wu & Lorin M. Hitt & Pei-yu Chen & G. Anandalingam, 2008. "Customized Bundle Pricing for Information Goods: A Nonlinear Mixed-Integer Programming Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(3), pages 608-622, March.
    2. Franco Papandrea & Natalie Stoeckl & Anne Daly, 2003. "Bundling in the Australian Telecommunications Industry," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 36(1), pages 41-54, March.
    3. Lorin M. Hitt & Pei-yu Chen, 2005. "Bundling with Customer Self-Selection: A Simple Approach to Bundling Low-Marginal-Cost Goods," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(10), pages 1481-1493, October.

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