Transcript (15) Pricing of Digital Goods

The Networked Economy (15):
Information Management, Strategy, and Innovation
网络经济：信息管理，战略和创新
Pricing in the
Networked Digital
Economy
数字产品定价
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Andreas S. Weigend, Ph.D. 韦思岸教授
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Chris Anderson: Free!

The new model is based not on cross-subsidies -- the shifting of costs from one
product to another -- but on the cost of products falling fast.

The last debates over free versus pay online are ending.
New York Times.
Casual games.
Google.

Trends
Extension of cross-subsidy to more industries.
Anything that touches digital networks feels the effect of falling costs.
Transistors, storage, or bandwidth: cheap enough to be safely disregarded.

Free doesn't mean that someone isn't making money.
The monetary benefits of Craigslist are distributed among its users.
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The priceless economy's six categories
1.
Freemium (tiers or a pro version, one percent of users support the rest)
2.
Advertising
3.
Cross-subsidies
4.
Zero marginal cost (online music)
5.
Labor exchange (Yahoo Answers)
6.
Gift economy (Wikipedia)
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Scarce: Then and now
•
What is scarce?
•
Before: Manufacturing and distribution
•
Now: Reputation and attention
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Digital convergence
数字聚合
Lots of information is in digital form
大多信息均以数字形式存在
•

Why is this important?
Economics!
为何重要？经济学！
Common infrastructure for
通用的基础设施

Convergence of
数字汇聚
Processing,
数据处理
Communication
通讯
Storing, and
数据存储
Computers
电脑
Communicating
数据通讯
Consumer electronics
电器

 Prices dropped dramatically
价格大幅下降
Games
游戏

 Positive feedback, further
accelerating development
正反馈，加速的良性循环
Home entertainment
家庭娱乐
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Economics of digital goods
数字商品的经济意义

Supply-side economies of scale
(production)
供应方规模经济
Digital convergence / universality
数字聚合 / 通用性
Processing, storage generic …
处理、存储通用
Delivery, communication generic …
传输、通信通用

TCP/IP：传输控制协议/网际协议
… thus inexpensive
所以便宜

Economics of digital goods
数字商品的经济意义
Initial cost (fixed cost) high
初始成本（固定成本）高
Marginal cost low (almost zero)
边际成本低（近乎为零）

Network effects
形成网络效应
Demand-side economies of scale
(network).…
需求方的规模经济…

Important for digital goods, where
speed etc amplified through technology!
对数字商品至关重要，速度等通过技术获
得提升！
… can create lock-in
… 需要锁定客户
Distribution cheap, easy, and fast
分销成本低，分销容易、快捷
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
Historical categories
历史分类
1. Physical
实物产品
2. Service
服务产品
3. Information
信息产品

Classify these products:
请分类:
Physical
实物
Travel
旅游
Books
图书
Groceries
日用品
Computers
电脑
Mobile phones
手机
Insurance
保险
Dating
交友
Service
服务
Information
信息
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Pure information products
纯信息产品
Pure
physical
product
Pure
service
product
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Agenda
教学纲要

Digital goods
数字商品
Digital convergence
数字融合
Properties and economics
特征和经济学

Pricing
定价
Personalized pricing
个性化定价
Group pricing
群体定价

Reading
阅读
Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian,
“Information Rules”
教材《信息规则》

Chapters 1-3 and 5-7
第1-3章、第5-7章
Versioning
版本设计
Bundling
捆绑定价
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Types of digital goods
数字商品的类型

Numbers
数字

Text
文本

Sound
声音

Images
图像

Video
视像
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Games
游戏

Software
软件
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Properties of digital goods (information goods)
数字商品的属性

Original and copy are indistinguishable
原件与拷贝毫无差别
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Digital goods are infinitely replicable
数字商品可无限复制

Digital goods are easy to distribute
数字商品易于分销
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Information-like goods
信息类商品

Cost structure of information-like goods
信息类商品的成本结构
High fixed costs of production
生产固定成本高
Near-zero marginal cost of (re-)production
近乎零的生产边际成本

Examples
例子
News, financial information, books, music, movies, research
新闻、财务信息、图书、音乐、电影、研究
Microprocessors
微处理器
Telecommunication network
无线通信网络
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Pricing of information-like goods
信息类商品的定价
1.

Pricing is difficult…
定价比较困难

… but there are some guidelines:
但也存在一些指导原则
Understand your cost structure
了解你的成本结构
Physical vs ‘information-like’ aspects
实物与‘信息类’方面
2.
Understand your market
了解市场
Opportunity, customers, competitors
机遇、客户、竞争对手

Notes
注
Information acquisition vs information use
信息获取与使用

Music, e.g., Napster (1998 vs 2008)
音乐，如Napster
Value-based pricing
价值定价
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Pricing: Flawed pricing practices
定价：有缺陷的定价实践

Cost-plus pricing: Adding a standard markup to the cost of the product
加入成本的定价：在产品成本的基础上增加一个标准的涨价幅度
Purpose is to ensure a fair rate of return
目的是保证公平的回报率
Product- average cost- price-value-Customer
产品——平均成本——价格——价值——顾客
Problems
问题
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Pricing: Flawed pricing practices
定价：有缺陷的定价实践

Market share based pricing: Setting price based on market share targets and
goals
基于市场份额的定价：定价基于市场份额的目标
The purpose is to meet market share goals at the expense of profit margin
目的是在利润的范围内达到市场份额目标
The key assumption is that profits increase with market share in the long run
假设长期内随着市场份额的增加利润也增加
Problems
问题
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Motivation Questions
动因问题

As a buyer, what information do you use to determine how much you are willing
to pay for a Dell XPS Laptop?
作为买家，你通过什么信息来决定购买戴尔XPS笔记本电脑的价格？

What can a company do to influence consumer’s willingness to pay?
公司怎么来影响顾客支付的意愿呢？
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EVC Analysis
对于顾客经济价值的分析

Economic value to the customer (EVC):
the maximum amount a customer should be willing to pay, assuming that s/he is
fully informed about the benefits of the product and the offerings of
competitors
对于顾客的经济价值：假设顾客完全知道产品的益处和竞争者所提供的产品/服务
而愿意支付最大金额

EVC = Reference Value + Differentiation Value
对于顾客的经济价值=参考价值+区别价值

Reference value: the price of perceived closest substitute adjusted by
difference in quantity used
参考价值：根据使用数量不同而进行调整最接近的替代品的价格

Differentiation value: value of a product’s attribute difference between your
offering and the close stsubstitute (+ or -)
区别价值：与最接近的替代品不同 的产品属性的价值
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EVC Analysis
EVC分析

Positive Differentiation Value
正向差异价值

Reference Value
参考价值

Negative Differentiation Value
负向差异价值

EVC Differentiation Value
EVC差异价值
Superior performance
绩效更优越
Better reliability
可靠性更高
Additional features
附加的特性
Lower maintenance cost
维护成本更低
Faster service
服务更快
Reference Value
参考价值
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Communicating EVC to Your Customers
让你的消费者知道EVC

Do not assume customers know EVC
不要认为消费者已经知道EVC

Educate customers is important when
在以下情况下，指导消费者非常重要 ：

The product delivers a stream of benefits over time
产品需要经过一段时间才会显现出一系列的好处

The product is highly innovative
产品高度创新

The fact that consumers are not buying your product is not by itself a reason to
cut price. It may be a reason to change your marketing program to justify the
price
事实上，不要仅仅因为消费者没有购买你的产品而去降价，原因可能是要你改变营
销手段去证实你的价格
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Use of EVC
EVC的使用
Advantages
优势
•

Describe decision process of
sophisticated purchasers
可以描述有经验的购买者的决策过程

Enables firm to distinguish between
under-promoted vs overpriced
product
使公司能够区分促销不足和定价过高
的产品

Can indicate attribute improvements
which give largest gain in EVC
能够明确如何改进属性可以获得最大
的回报
Limitations
局限
•

Actual willingness to pay depends
perceived differentiation value and
perceived value of the competitive
product
实际愿意支付的金额取决于消费者对
该产品的价值和同类产品的比较所得
出的价值差异
I.e., Focus your improvement effort
也就是可以导向为之所作的努力

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Price-Quality Effect: http://www.sephora.com
价格质量影响
•
Flower by Kenzo
Kenzo 制造的花
Kenzo‘s soft floral with hints of violet, vanilla, and rose, uniquely
packaged in poppy embossed bottles is a contemporary fragrance for
the modern, city woman who looks to nature for inspiration and
renewal.
Kenzo 制造的紫罗兰，香草和玫瑰，被包在深红色的浮雕花瓶中，散发着现
代的香气，专门为那些看上来自然的现代城市女人。
•
•
VERA WANG
Created for a man of taste and refinement, Vera Wang. For Men is
masculine, seductive, aromatic oriental, designed to elicit desire,
emotion and passion.
Vera Wang专为有品味和精致的那人准备。具有男子汉气概，诱人的，芬芳
的，专为渴望，情感和激情的再现。
•
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Pricing strategies for information-like goods
信息类商品的定价战略
1.
Personalized pricing
个性化定价
2.
Group pricing
群体定价
3.
Versioning (multiple products with self-selection)
版本管理（多种产品、自助选择）
4.
Bundling
捆绑定价
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1. Personalized pricing
1. 个性化定价
The ideal economic scenario
理想的经济状况

For a single product, find out how much each customer is
willing to pay
对于某件产品而言，首先确定每一位客户愿意支付多少
This amount is called “Willingness To Pay” (WTP)

Then set the price for that customer = WTP
然后设定价格 = WTP
p
p
vs
PRICE
价格
REVENUE
收入
REVENUE
收入
DEMAND
需求
q
q
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1. Personalized pricing
1. 个性化定价
Problem: Customers won’t tell you their WTP directly
问题是，客户不会直接说出WTP

Record and analyze past behavior of customer (purchasing patterns)
记录、分析客户以往的购物习惯

E.g., response to promotions
如对促销的反应

But, in e-business: customer can easily create multiple accounts
但是还有激励因素

Model the current situation of the customer
消费者目前情况的模式化

Take price of competitor into account
例如以竞争对手价格为基础

Dynamically adjust price
动态调整价格
Personalization needs to be in real-time
必须实时个性化
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1. Personalized pricing
1. 个性化定价

What did Amazon do?
亚马逊做了些什么？

What was the reaction of the customers…
消费者的反应如何？
… empowered by community and communication?
社区赋予消费者权力
Lasted only for a couple of hours
只持续了几个小时

Constraint: Same country, same time, same price
限制：同一国度、同一时间、同一价格
Policy: If experiments, reimburse customers at end of experiment difference between their
price and lowest price 原则：如果是试验的话，在试验结束时就消费者的价格和最低价格之间
进行补偿。
Other experimental approaches to determine price
其他试验

Find similar books, try different prices
相同的图书，不同的价格

Reframe as discounts
变相打折
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
Instead of many prices (personalized pricing) …
不提供多种个性化定价…
p
p
PRICE
价格
REVENUE
收入
REVENUE
收入
DEMAND
需求
q
q
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Differential pricing
差异定价

… offer two (or a few) prices…
而提供两种或少数几种价格
p
Price
价格
vs.
与
p
SEGMENT 1
细分市场 1
SEGMENT 2
细分市场 2
Price 1
价格 1
Revenue
收入
Price 2
价格 2
Demand
需求
q
REVENUE 收入
DEMAND
需求
q
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. Group pricing, 3. Versioning
2.群体定价 3.版本管理


2. Group pricing
群体定价

3. Versioning
版本管理
Identical product
相同产品
Multiple products
多种产品
Multiple prices
多种价格
Multiple prices
多种价格
Note
注
Customer selects version
客户选择版本
Price depends on customer’s attributes
价格取决于客户特性
Customer has no choice between
different versions of product
客户对产品版本没有选择
Attribute determines price
特性决定价格


E.g., Student discounts
如学生折扣
E.g., Airfares in China in 1990:
Foreigners paid twice as much as Chinese
如九十年代老外在华购买机票价格翻番

Example
例
Airline seats: Economy vs business
class
航班座位：经济舱与公务舱

Advance & penalty & no legroom
提前预订、违约罚金、座位空间小

Book anytime & refundable & some
legroom
随时预订、可全额退款、座位空间大
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3. Versioning: Guidelines
3.版本管理：指导原则

Some rules, based on needs of different customer segments (not on costs)
一些建立在不同细分客户需求基础上的原则 （而不是成本）
Design versions that accentuate differences in the needs of the segments
版本的设计突出这些细分市场需求的不同点
Choose a pricing structure that highlights these differences between the segments
选择一种突出不同细分市场的定价结构
Aim for complements
目的在于配套件


E.g., Online vs offline
网上与网下
Strategy
战略
Acquire users with low-end version
先用低端版本赢得用户群

Free vs inexpensive 免费或廉价的
Convert users of low-end version to high-end
将低端版本用户转化为高端版本用户
Design high-end version, then remove features to produce low-end version (value-subtract)
按高端市场设计，然后去掉一些功能来生产低端版本（价值削减）
E.g., Digital images, Software (disabling features easier than adding features),
如软件、数码图像（去掉功能比增加功能要容易些）
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3. Versioning: Dimensions
3.版本管理：如何划分版本

What attributes can be varied to create different versions?
可根据哪些特征划分多种版本？
Comprehensiveness
综合性
Search capabilities (simple vs advanced search)
搜索能力 (简单与高级搜索）
Timeliness (real-time vs delayed)
及时性（实时与延迟）
p
Time of use (peak vs off-peak)
使用时间（高峰与非高峰）
SEGMENT 1
细分市场 1
Access channel (online vs offline)
访问渠道（网上与网下）
Quality (sound quality or image resolution)
质量 (音质或图象清晰度)
Speed of operationv
运行速度
Convenience
使用便捷
(Lack of) annoyance
不烦人
SEGMENT 2
细分市场 2
Price1
价格 1
PRICE 2
REVENUE 收入
价格 2
DEMAND
需求
q
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3. Versioning
3.版本管理

Example: Hoovers
例子：Hoovers
Product: Web-based information
产品：基于网络的信息
Search capability
搜索能力
Comprehensiveness
综合性
Convenience
便利性
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Example: Versioning on online dating site
例：交友网站的版本设计

Visitor (not registered, not paying)
访客（不注册、不付费）



Registered user (not paying)
注册用户（不付费）

Registration: User needs to create profile
注册：用户需自我描述

Network effects: Larger inventory increases the value of the site
网络效应: 库存（注册用户）增加则使网站增值
Paying subscriber
付费用户


Show visitors the benefit for them to take the next step by showing them interesting inventory, yet
hiding certain features that will be opened up if they register
让访客看到感兴趣的信息列表来吸引他进入下一步，但故意隐去某些关键功能或信息，除非注册成为
用户
Versioning: Allow users to see details of other users, to upload more pictures
版本划分：允许用户查看更多信息细节，并可上载更多照片
Note: Design economic incentives well to get visitors to register, and then to pay
注：精心设计经济激励机制，合理诱导访客迅速成为注册用户，最终升级为付费用户。
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4. Bundling: Economics
4. 捆绑定价的经济意义

Example:

Revenues:
收入：
例子：
Unbundled
Assume that there are two products,
 and 
假设有两种产品和
Furthermore, assume the following WTPs
for User A and User B:
非捆绑

如果每个产品价格为120元：总价240元

Bundled
 100RMB; For  120RMB.
用户A：产品 ，100元；产品 ，120元
If price is 100RMB each: 400RMB total
如果每个产品价格为100元：总价400元
另外，假设用户A和B各自的WTP如下：
User A: For
If price is 120RMB each: 240RMB total
捆绑

If price for bundle is 220RMB, fetch 440RMB
如果捆绑价格为220元，则获得440元收入
User B: For  120RMB; For  100RMB.
用户B：产品 ，120元；产品 ，100元
1. Bundling can enable higher revenues
通过捆绑定价，收入提高
2. When customer needs product with functionality
of second product, likely to use the already
there
一旦用户出现实际需求，多半会使用已有产品。
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Example
举例
1.
Pricing of trial version:
free
试用版免费
Is an “experience good”
亲自体验
2.
Pricing of bundle:
捆绑定价
$39 bundled (in addition
to print)
捆绑定价39美元（加订印
刷版报纸）
$79 unbundled (online
only)
非捆绑定价79美元（只看
网络版）
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Forms of aggregation similar to bundling
其他集成形式有类似启示
Implications on pricing
如何影响定价

Bundling = Aggregate across products
捆绑＝商品的集成
Optimal price for a bundle is easier to predict than optimal price for each individual
good
捆绑商品的最优价格要比单件商品的最优价格更易预测

Site license = Aggregate across users
场地特许＝用户的集成
Optimal price for a site is easier to predict than optimal price for each individual user
某一场地的最优价格要比单个用户的最优价格更易预测

Subscription = Aggregate across time
订购＝时间的集成
Optimal price for a subscription is easier to predict than optimal price for single
purchase
订购的最优价格要比单次使用的最优价格更易预测
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Summary: Pricing digital goods
总结：数字商品定价
1.
Personalized pricing
个性化定价
Personalization difficult in general, and additionally problematic for pricing
一般而言，真正实现个性化较困难，个性化定价就更麻烦
2.
Group pricing
群体定价
Difficult on the web because of identity problems (web’s strength of pseudonymity is
necessarily weakness for group pricing based on user attributes)
网上难以确认身份，网名泛滥难以针对用户特征准确定价
3.
Versioning
版本管理
Offer combinations differing across relevant dimensions
提供相关因素的多种组合
Users self-select, and reveal their preferences through their choices
通过用户的选择了解用户偏好
Possibly up-sell user over time
从长计议，越卖版本越高
4.
Bundling
捆绑定价
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