IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/net/wpaper/2008.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Watching Ads for Free Mobile Data: A Game-Theoretic Analysis of Sponsored Data with Reward Task

Author

Listed:
  • Subodha Kumar

    (Fox School of Business, Temple University)

  • Xiaowei Mei

    (Department of Management and Marketing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

  • Liangfei Qiu

    (Warrington College of Business, University of Florida)

  • Lai Wei

    (Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Abstract

Sponsored data with reward task is an emerging monetization mechanism in which consumers are subsidized with free megabytes by content providers (CPs, e.g., Netflix) in exchange for engagement with advertisers by performing various forms of reward task. Consumers are endowed with the option of whether or not to participate in reward tasks, which is different from traditional push advertising that consumers have no control of. Although it is an emerging phenomenon, to the best of our knowledge, this has not yet been analyzed rigorously. In order to fill this gap in literature, we provide an economic analysis of this mechanism. Our results show that, interestingly, CP’s optimal subsidization rate increases in its marginal revenue of traditional advertising, but decreases in that of reward task. We also find that the amount of reward tasks performed by consumers actually sometimes decreases with these revenue rates. Further, while the profit of both the CP and the mobile network operator (e.g., AT&T) increases with the marginal revenue of traditional advertising, the effect of the marginal revenue of reward task on their profit is not straightforward. Specifically, when the marginal revenue of reward tasks is relatively high, it affects the CP and the mobile network operator’s profit positively; otherwise, the effect is reversed. We further find that, interestingly, the introduction of sponsored data might not necessarily increase consumer surplus. Similarly, although vertical integration of the mobile network operator and the CP reduces double marginalization by aligning incentives and reducing strategic information asymmetry, we find that it could sometimes hurt consumer surplus. Our results provide important insights for both the mobile network operator and the CP. In addition, we also provide useful guidance to policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Subodha Kumar & Xiaowei Mei & Liangfei Qiu & Lai Wei, 2020. "Watching Ads for Free Mobile Data: A Game-Theoretic Analysis of Sponsored Data with Reward Task," Working Papers 20-08, NET Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:net:wpaper:2008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.netinst.org/Qiu_20-08.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oliver Hart & Jean Tirole, 1990. "Vertical Integration and Market Foreclosure," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(1990 Micr), pages 205-286.
    2. Marius F. Niculescu & D. J. Wu, 2014. "Economics of Free Under Perpetual Licensing: Implications for the Software Industry," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 173-199, March.
    3. Hsing Kenneth Cheng & Subhajyoti Bandyopadhyay & Hong Guo, 2011. "The Debate on Net Neutrality: A Policy Perspective," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 60-82, March.
    4. Narayan Ramasubbu & Jennifer Shang & Jerrold H. May & Youxu Tjader & Luis Vargas, 2019. "Task Interdependence and Firm Performance in Outsourced Service Operations," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 658-673, July.
    5. Nicholas Economides & Benjamin E. Hermalin, 2012. "The economics of network neutrality," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 43(4), pages 602-629, December.
    6. Jullien, Bruno & Sand-Zantman, Wilfried, 2018. "Internet regulation, two-sided pricing, and sponsored data," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 31-62.
    7. Hong Guo & Robert F. Easley, 2016. "Network Neutrality Versus Paid Prioritization: Analyzing the Impact on Content Innovation," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 25(7), pages 1261-1273, July.
    8. Tasneem Chipty, 2001. "Vertical Integration, Market Foreclosure, and Consumer Welfare in the Cable Television Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 428-453, June.
    9. Shapley, Lloyd & Scarf, Herbert, 1974. "On cores and indivisibility," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 23-37, March.
    10. Hong Guo & Xuying Zhao & Lin Hao & De Liu, 2019. "Economic Analysis of Reward Advertising," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(10), pages 2413-2430, October.
    11. Yue Maggie Zhou & Xiang Wan, 2017. "Product variety and vertical integration," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 1134-1150, May.
    12. Yu Wang & Aradhna Krishna, 2006. "Timeshare Exchange Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(8), pages 1223-1237, August.
    13. Ling Xue & Gautam Ray & Xia Zhao, 2017. "Managerial Incentives and IT Strategic Posture," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(1), pages 180-198, March.
    14. Abdulkadiroglu, Atila & Sonmez, Tayfun, 1999. "House Allocation with Existing Tenants," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 233-260, October.
    15. Radha Mookerjee & Subodha Kumar & Vijay S. Mookerjee, 2017. "Optimizing Performance-Based Internet Advertisement Campaigns," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 38-54, February.
    16. Ordover, Janusz A & Saloner, Garth & Salop, Steven C, 1990. "Equilibrium Vertical Foreclosure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 127-142, March.
    17. Hoernig, Steffen & Monteiro, Francisco, 2020. "Zero-rating and network effects," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    18. Patrali Chatterjee & Donna L. Hoffman & Thomas P. Novak, 2003. "Modeling the Clickstream: Implications for Web-Based Advertising Efforts," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 520-541, May.
    19. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, December.
    20. Juan Feng & Jinhong Xie, 2012. "Research Note ---Performance-Based Advertising: Advertising as Signals of Product Quality," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(3-part-2), pages 1030-1041, September.
    21. Jay Pil Choi & Byung‐Cheol Kim, 2010. "Net neutrality and investment incentives," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 41(3), pages 446-471, September.
    22. Greenhut, M L & Ohta, H, 1979. "Vertical Integration of Successive Oligopolists," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 137-141, March.
    23. Soohyun Cho & Liangfei Qiu & Subhajyoti Bandyopadhyay, 2016. "Should Online Content Providers Be Allowed To Subsidize Content?—An Economic Analysis," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 580-595.
    24. Lin Hao & Hong Guo & Robert F. Easley, 2017. "A Mobile Platform's In‐App Advertising Contract Under Agency Pricing for App Sales," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(2), pages 189-202, February.
    25. Simon P. Anderson & Stephen Coate, 2005. "Market Provision of Broadcasting: A Welfare Analysis," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(4), pages 947-972.
    26. Dengpan Liu & Subodha Kumar & Vijay S. Mookerjee, 2012. "Advertising Strategies in Electronic Retailing: A Differential Games Approach," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(3-part-2), pages 903-917, September.
    27. Bahriye Cesaret & Milind Dawande & Tharanga Rajapakshe, 2019. "On Member‐Driven, Efficient and Fair Timeshare Exchanges," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(1), pages 189-205, January.
    28. Kumar, Subodha & Jacob, Varghese S. & Sriskandarajah, Chelliah, 2006. "Scheduling advertisements on a web page to maximize revenue," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(3), pages 1067-1089, September.
    29. Subodha Kumar & Yinliang (Ricky) Tan & Lai Wei, 2020. "When to Play Your Advertisement? Optimal Insertion Policy of Behavioral Advertisement," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 589-606, June.
    30. Radha Mookerjee & Subodha Kumar & Vijay S. Mookerjee, 2017. "Optimizing Performance-Based Internet Advertisement Campaigns," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 38-54, February.
    31. Kursad Asdemir & Nanda Kumar & Varghese S. Jacob, 2012. "Pricing Models for Online Advertising: CPM vs. CPC," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(3-part-1), pages 804-822, September.
    32. Sam K. Hui, 2017. "Understanding repeat playing behavior in casual games using a Bayesian data augmentation approach," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 29-55, March.
    33. Dengpan Liu & Subodha Kumar & Vijay S. Mookerjee, 2020. "Flexible and Committed Advertising Contracts in Electronic Retailing," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 323-339, June.
    34. Shengqi Ye & Goker Aydin & Shanshan Hu, 2015. "Sponsored Search Marketing: Dynamic Pricing and Advertising for an Online Retailer," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(6), pages 1255-1274, June.
    35. Karthik Kannan & Mohammad S. Rahman & Mohit Tawarmalani, 2016. "Economic and Policy Implications of Restricted Patch Distribution," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(11), pages 3161-3182, November.
    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. Xiaowei Mei & Hsing Kenneth Cheng & Subhajyoti Bandyopadhyay & Liangfei Qiu & Lai Wei, 2022. "Sponsored Data: Smarter Data Pricing with Incomplete Information," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(1), pages 362-382, March.
    2. Peitz, Martin & Schuett, Florian, 2016. "Net neutrality and inflation of traffic," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 16-62.
    3. Gautier, Axel & Somogyi, Robert, 2020. "Prioritization vs zero-rating: Discrimination on the internet," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Belleflamme,Paul & Peitz,Martin, 2015. "Industrial Organization," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107687899, October.
    5. Jeitschko, Thomas D. & Kim, Soo Jin & Yankelevich, Aleksandr, 2021. "Zero-Rating and Vertical Content Foreclosure," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    6. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Stocker, Volker & Stockhammer, Paul, 2019. "Ist Netzneutralität tatsächlich gut? Eine Neubewertung vor dem Hintergrund der Regulierung in den USA und in der EU sowie aktueller Forschungsergebnisse," Policy Notes 38, EcoAustria – Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Burcu Tan & Edward G. Anderson, Jr. & Geoffrey G. Parker, 2020. "Platform Pricing and Investment to Drive Third-Party Value Creation in Two-Sided Networks," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 217-239, March.
    8. Michiel Bijlsma & Viktoria Kocsis & Victoria Shestalova & Gijsbert Zwart, 2008. "Vertical foreclosure: a policy framework," CPB Document 157, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Njoroge Paul & Ozdaglar Asuman & Stier-Moses Nicolás E. & Weintraub Gabriel Y., 2014. "Investment in Two-Sided Markets and the Net Neutrality Debate," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(4), pages 355-402, February.
    10. Suzuki, Ayako, 2009. "Market foreclosure and vertical merger: A case study of the vertical merger between Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 532-543, July.
    11. Nicholas Economides & Benjamin E. Hermalin, 2015. "The strategic use of download limits by a monopoly platform," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 46(2), pages 297-327, June.
    12. Lorenzon, Emmanuel, 2022. "Zero-rating, content quality, and network capacity," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    13. Baake, Pio & Sudaric, Slobodan, 2019. "Net neutrality and CDN intermediation," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 55-67.
    14. Volker Nocke & Lucy White, 2003. "Do Vertical Mergers Facilitate Upstream Collusion? Second Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 05-013, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 08 Mar 2005.
    15. Calzada, Joan & Tselekounis, Markos, 2018. "Net Neutrality in a hyperlinked Internet economy," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 190-221.
    16. Baake, Pio & Sudaric, Slobodan, 2018. "Net Neutrality, Prioritization and the Impact of Content Delivery Networks," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 102, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    17. Zava Aydemir & Stefan Buehler, 2002. "Estimating Vertical Foreclosure in U.S. Gasoline Supply," SOI - Working Papers 0212, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich.
    18. Emmanuel LORENZON, 2020. "Zero Rating, Content Quality and Network Capacity," Bordeaux Economics Working Papers 2020-21, Bordeaux School of Economics (BSE).
    19. Francine Lafontaine & Margaret Slade, 2007. "Vertical Integration and Firm Boundaries: The Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(3), pages 629-685, September.
    20. Abhijeet Ghoshal & Radha Mookerjee & Zhen Sun, 2023. "Serving two masters? Optimizing mobile ad contracts with heterogeneous advertisers," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(2), pages 618-636, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    mobile network operator; sponsored data; reward task; vertical integration; game theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D47 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Market Design
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:net:wpaper:2008. 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: Nicholas Economides (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.NETinst.org/ .

    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.