IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0296732.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On-demand ride service platform with differentiated services

Author

Listed:
  • Lina Ma
  • Zhijie Tao
  • Qiang Wei

Abstract

The rapid growth of on-demand ride service platforms has made it increasingly important for these platforms to efficiently match services by understanding driver characteristics and consumer preferences. This paper aims to investigate the pricing strategy by considering the impact of consumer preference heterogeneity and the different service types offered by drivers. The findings of this study reveal the need for the platform to strike a balance between service cost and the benefits of high-quality drivers, which can be referred to as the “cost-performance ratio”. If the “cost-performance ratio” that attracts high-quality drivers is high, the platform will attract high-quality drivers or drivers of all types to participate while offering differentiated services. Otherwise, the platform will only provide services through low-quality drivers. Furthermore, the platform will also consider when to offer differentiated services based on network externalities and service quality. When the network externalities of the two types of services are similar, the platform will differentiate them based on service quality differences. Overall, considering consumer preference heterogeneity, drivers of service types, and network externalities, this paper provides guidance for platforms to make optimal decisions that enhance their service offerings and improve overall customer satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Lina Ma & Zhijie Tao & Qiang Wei, 2024. "On-demand ride service platform with differentiated services," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(1), pages 1-27, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0296732
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296732
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296732
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296732&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0296732?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baake, Pio & Boom, Anette, 2001. "Vertical product differentiation, network externalities, and compatibility decisions," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(1-2), pages 267-284, January.
    2. Marc Rysman, 2009. "The Economics of Two-Sided Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(3), pages 125-143, Summer.
    3. Ni, Guanqun & Xu, Yinfeng & Dong, Yucheng, 2013. "Price and speed decisions in customer-intensive services with two classes of customers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 228(2), pages 427-436.
    4. Yu, Yang & Wu, Yuting & Wang, Junwei, 2019. "Bi-objective green ride-sharing problem: Model and exact method," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 472-482.
    5. Mark Armstrong, 2006. "Competition in two‐sided markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 668-691, September.
    6. Zhong, Yuanguang & Lin, Zhaozhan & Zhou, Yong-Wu & Cheng, T.C.E. & Lin, Xiaogang, 2019. "Matching supply and demand on ride-sharing platforms with permanent agents and competition," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 363-374.
    7. Mingchun Sun & Edison Tse, 2009. "The Resource‐Based View of Competitive Advantage in Two‐Sided Markets," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 45-64, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Oz Shy, 2011. "A Short Survey of Network Economics," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 38(2), pages 119-149, March.
    2. Martin Peitz & Sven Rady & Piers Trepper, 2017. "Experimentation in Two-Sided Markets," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 128-172.
    3. Bach Quang Ho & Yuki Inoue, 2020. "Driving Network Externalities in Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Naixin Zhu, 2023. "Dissertation on Applied Microeconomics of Freemium Pricing Strategies in Mobile App Market," Papers 2305.09479, arXiv.org.
    5. Aslan, Fatma & Haouel, Chourouk & Nemeslaki, Andras & Somogyi, Robert, 2021. "Direct network externalities and dynamics of two-sided platforms," 23rd ITS Biennial Conference, Online Conference / Gothenburg 2021. Digital societies and industrial transformations: Policies, markets, and technologies in a post-Covid world 238006, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    6. Jin Li & Gary Pisano & Yejia Xu & Feng Zhu, 2023. "Marketplace Scalability and Strategic Use of Platform Investment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(7), pages 3958-3975, July.
    7. Amit Kumar Bardhan & Saad Ashraf, 2024. "More buyers or more sellers: on marketing resource allocation strategies of competing two-sided platforms," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 2579-2608, December.
    8. Jonathan Levin, 2011. "The Economics of Internet Markets," Discussion Papers 10-018, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    9. Marleen Marra, 2024. "Estimating and Auction Platform Game with Two-Sided Entry," Working Papers hal-03393068, HAL.
    10. Decarolis, Francesco & Li, Muxin, 2023. "Regulating online search in the EU: From the android case to the digital markets act and digital services act," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    11. Frank Mueller‐Langer & Richard Watt, 2021. "Optimal pricing and quality of academic journals and the ambiguous welfare effects of forced open access: A two‐sided model," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(8), pages 1945-1959, December.
    12. Lapo Filistrucchi & Damien Geradin & Eric van Damme, 2012. "Identifying Two-Sided Markets," Working Papers - Economics wp2012_01.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    13. Dawoon Jung & Byung Cho Kim & Myungsub Park & Detmar W. Straub, 2019. "Innovation and Policy Support for Two-Sided Market Platforms: Can Government Policy Makers and Executives Optimize Both Societal Value and Profits?," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 1037-1050, September.
    14. Ding, Rong & Ko, Chiu Yu & Shen, Bo, 2022. "Partial compatibility in two-sided markets: Equilibrium and welfare analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    15. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cagé, 2019. "Newspapers in Times of Low Advertising Revenues," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 319-364, August.
    16. Jullien, Bruno & Pavan, Alessandro & Rysman, Marc, 2021. "Two-sided Markets, Pricing, and Network Effects," TSE Working Papers 21-1238, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    17. Justus Haucap & Torben Stühmeier, 2016. "Competition and antitrust in Internet markets," Chapters, in: Johannes M. Bauer & Michael Latzer (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of the Internet, chapter 9, pages 183-210, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Xing Wan & Javier Cenamor & Geoffrey Parker & Marshall Van Alstyne, 2017. "Unraveling Platform Strategies: A Review from an Organizational Ambidexterity Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, May.
    19. Jabbour, Chady & Rey-Valette, Hélène & Maurel, Pierre & Salles, Jean-Michel, 2019. "Spatial data infrastructure management: A two-sided market approach for strategic reflections," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 69-82.
    20. Huixin Liu & Fang Liu & Feng Du, 2022. "Research on Platform Operation Strategy Considering Consumers’ Hassle Costs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0296732. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.