COMPETITION AND MARKET STRUCTURE FOR NETWORK GOODS

The network goods industry provides opportunities for firms to gain substantial market power. Such opportunities often lead to intense competition. A recent example of competition in network goods was the market for high-speed home Internet service between DSL providers (such as AT&T) and cable Internet providers (such as Comcast). With a majority of U.S. households having switched from dial-up Internet services to high-speed providers in the past decade, the race to become the dominant provider was critical to AT&T and Comcast.

AT&T focused on bundling strategies with their U-verse program that incorporates home phone, digital television, and high-speed Internet for one price. Comcast, in addition to their Xfinity program that bundles television, home phone, and Internet, invested heavily in television advertising featuring the Slowskys, a turtle couple that had an aversion to anything fast and was used as a metaphor for DSL-service speed.

This section describes some of the common strategies used to protect network goods from entering a vicious cycle or to increase the likelihood of entering a virtuous cycle. Undoubtedly, as a consumer, you encounter many of these marketing strategies when making decisions about which network goods to purchase. The goal of firms using these strategies is to attract you to their product and to keep you as a customer for a long time.

383

Competition and Pricing Strategies

Network goods are characterized as having high fixed costs with low marginal costs. Further, network effects can cause some firms to flourish while causing others to fail, even when little or no quality differences exist between the firms’ products. The determinant of market success is not always dependent on the quality of the good, but rather on competitive strategies to capture market share. Low marginal costs means it does not cost much to serve customers once they are committed to a product. Therefore, firms spend significant sums of money to gain new customers and use various strategies to keep existing customers. These strategies include teaser strategies, lock-in strategies, and market segmentation (such as product differentiation and price discrimination).

teaser strategies Attractive up-front deals used as an incentive to entice new customers into a network.

Capturing New Customers Using Teaser Strategies Teaser strategies are used by firms to gain new customers by offering various sign-up incentives and/or low prices for a short introductory period. Examples of teaser deals include wireless companies offering a free or highly discounted phone when you purchase a two-year wireless plan, cable companies offering six months of free cable or Internet service, banks offering 0% finance charges for a limited time when you open a new credit card account, online music companies offering new customers 50 free music downloads, and software companies allowing new users to sample their products with a 30-day free trial.

Why do companies offer such great deals to new customers? Unlike decisions for non-network goods, such as which brand of cereal to buy—a decision that is relatively easy to switch back and forth—purchasing a network good typically requires a long-term commitment. This can be due to a legal commitment, such as a one- or two-year contract, or it can be due to the nonmonetary costs of switching from one product to another.

switching cost A cost imposed on consumers when they change products or subscribe to a new network.

Have you ever had to switch from a software program that you have used for many years? Once you learn how to use a particular software program or once you are accustomed to a certain email program, it can be a hassle to switch to another. These switching costs, which include monetary and nonmonetary costs of switching from one good to another, often are substantial for network goods. Therefore, to provide incentives for consumers to incur these costs to switch, firms must offer attractive up-front deals.

lock-in strategies Techniques used by firms to raise the switching costs for their customers, making it less attractive to leave the network.

Retaining Existing Customers Using Lock-In Strategies In addition to offering teaser deals to entice new customers, firms also employ strategies to keep existing customers from leaving. Lock-in strategies occur after a customer adopts a product, and typically involve the firm engaging in strategies that raise the switching costs of consumers, thereby increasing the likelihood of retaining the customer.

Switching costs include the hassle of learning a new format and its features, dealing with the loss of other features one has become accustomed to, and so forth. In some cases, switching costs may be minimal or offset by benefits; for example, the excitement of purchasing the latest smartphone or computer may outweigh the switching costs of learning how to use it. But consumers generally do not like changing network goods once they are accustomed to one brand.

Common examples of lock-in strategies include the offering of loyalty programs, which reward consumers the more they use or the longer they stay with a company’s products. Lock-in strategies also include preventing certain features from being transferred to another product, such as a phone’s contact list or saved text messages.

market segmentation A strategy of making a single good in different versions to target different consumer markets with varying prices.

Using Market Segmentation to Maximize Profits In an earlier chapter, we saw how market power can reduce the elasticity of demand for a firm’s product and increase potential profits of monopolies and monopolistically competitive firms. We draw from those analyses by studying how market segmentation strategies can be used to increase market share and profits in the market for network goods. Market segmentation is achieved when firms can differentiate their products in a way that allows similar goods to be priced differently to different groups of consumers. In other words, it allows firms to price discriminate, which increases producer surplus.

Because network goods generally have a low marginal cost of production, firms have greater flexibility in segmenting their products to allow for a greater range of prices, each targeting a different subset of the market. Market segmentation strategies in network goods include versioning, intertemporal pricing, peak-load pricing, and bundling strategies.

384

ISSUE

A 0% Credit Card Offer: Is It Too Good to Be True?

Credit card debt is one of the most common forms of consumer debt in the United States. The average American carries over $5,000 in credit card debt, often at interest rates higher than what is paid on home mortgages, car loans, or student loans. However, many credit card companies offer new credit card subscribers 0% financing for a limited period of time. These offers are attractive for individuals with debt, many of whom might transfer debt from another credit card. Do credit card companies profit by giving customers such a great deal? Yes, more than you might think.

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Zero percent interest lending rate deals abound to attract new customers, but beware, they do not last for long!
Wd2007/Dreamstime.com

Nearly all 0% financing offers are teaser strategies, and not all are created equal. They vary in terms of the length of the offer, the initial transfer fees, and whether finance charges are accrued. Zero percent interest offers generally vary from 6 to 18 months from the opening of a new credit card, and most are balance transfer offers that pay off another credit card balance but require an initial transfer fee of 3% to 5%. Therefore, if one pays a 5% fee to enjoy a 0% interest rate for 6 months, that is the equivalent of a 10% annual interest rate. Finally, some credit card companies accrue finance charges over the promotional period if the balance is not paid off. For example, if one has a $1,000 balance at 0% for 12 months, which then increases to 15% after 12 months, an accrued finance charge means that if the $1,000 balance is not paid off in 12 months, the 15% rate is charged from day 1, eliminating any benefit from the 0% offer. One should always read the terms of a 0% offer to avoid unexpected fees.

Finally, there is an income effect. When a consumer can buy goods at a 0% interest rate, a consumer feels wealthier, which may lead to greater spending. Because credit card companies charge businesses 2% to 3% on every purchase for processing the transaction, they will still earn money on every purchase, even if you never pay a penny in finance charges.

versioning A pricing strategy that involves differentiating a good by way of packaging into multiple products for people with different demands.

Versioning refers to pricing strategies that involve differentiating a good by way of packaging it into multiple products for people with different needs. A common example is the choice of a wireless plan. Do you choose an unlimited monthly plan, a fixed-minute monthly plan, or a prepaid plan? A single firm can offer each of these plans and price each plan to attract the appropriate subset of customers.

intertemporal pricing A type of versioning in which goods are differentiated by the level of patience of consumers. Less patient consumers pay a higher price than more patient consumers.

A similar but slightly different strategy is intertemporal pricing. Like versioning, a firm uses intertemporal pricing strategies to target different groups of consumers by differentiating their product, but in this case, by time. Specifically, they use the fact that some consumers are more impatient than others to buy a product. For example, new books often first appear in bookstores as expensive hardcover editions, then as less expensive paperbacks or eBook versions a couple of months later, followed by the availability of the book for loan from public libraries at no cost for the most patient consumers.

Another example of intertemporal pricing, shown in Table 2, is the release of a new movie. A new movie first appears in theaters, followed by on-demand or pay-per-view, then via paid online streaming or DVD rental, then on premium movie channels, and lastly on network TV. With each step, the price to view the movie generally decreases.

TABLE 2 INTERTEMPORAL PRICING OF A NEW MOVIE
Movie Format Average Wait Time from Movie Release Approximate Cost to View
Movie theater Immediate $10 per person
On-demand/pay-per-view 2 to 3 months $10 per group of viewers
Paid streaming/DVD rental 3 to 6 months $5 per group of viewers
Premium channels 6 months to 1 year Cost of channel subscription
Network TV/free streaming 1 year or longer Free (basic TV or Internet access)
Table 14.2: TABLE 2 INTERTEMPORAL PRICING OF A NEW MOVIE

Firms that successfully use versioning and intertemporal pricing can price-discriminate among consumers by charging less patient consumers, who have lower elasticities of demand, higher prices than those consumers with more patience and higher elasticities of demand. Once consumers with less elastic demand are served, the price is dropped to serve those with more elastic demand. The firm earns more profit by versioning products using time as the differentiating factor.

peak-load pricing A versioning strategy of pricing a product higher during periods of higher demand, and lower during periods of lower demand.

Peak-load pricing focuses less on differentiating a product than it does on charging higher prices when there is greater demand for the product. For example, ticket prices for evening movies and Broadway shows typically are higher than prices for matinees. Most wireless plans come with free or highly discounted evening and weekend usage. And airlines typically charge less for tickets on the nonpeak travel days of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Similar to versioning and intertemporal pricing, the use of peak-load pricing attempts to segment the market into consumers with less flexible demand and those with more flexible demand.

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Figure 5 illustrates a market with peak-load pricing, where PP represents the higher prices charged during peak times when demand DP is greater, whereas P0 is the lower price charged during off-peak times when demand D0 is lower.

Figure 14.5: FIGURE 5 PEAK-LOAD PRICING
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Figure 14.5: Demand curve DP represents a greater demand during peak periods, leading to an optimal price of PP. During off-peak times, demand D0 is much lower, leading to a lower price of P0. Peak-load pricing can occur by time of day (telephone calls, live shows, movies), by day of the week (airline tickets), or by season (ski lift tickets).

bundling A strategy of packaging several products into a single product with a single price. Bundling allows firms to capture customers of related products by making it more attractive to use the same firm’s products.

Finally, network industries engage in bundling strategies to increase demand for related products. Because network goods generally have low marginal costs to produce, it does not cost the firm much to package several products together. Customers who purchase one product are then more likely to use other products from the same company, thus supporting the firm’s network and the value of all its goods. One example is Apple’s strategy of bundling many types of software into its iOS operating system. Bundled programs such as Safari, iMovie, iTunes, and GarageBand provide users with convenient “free” options, thereby reducing the need to use other network providers (such as Adobe and Real), which sell competing media products.

386

CHECKPOINT

COMPETITION AND MARKET STRUCTURE FOR NETWORK GOODS

  • Competition for market share in network goods is often intense as firms attempt to avoid the vicious cycle of a failed network good.

  • Teaser strategies include attractive up-front savings to customers willing to switch to another network good provider, while lock-in strategies are used to make it more costly to leave a network good provider.

  • Market segmentation involves separating consumers based on their elasticity of demand, with less patient consumers (those with inelastic demands) paying more than patient consumers with elastic demands.

  • Versioning is the practice of differentiating a good into multiple products from which consumers can choose. Versioning also can be done by time (intertemporal pricing) or by peak usage (peak-load pricing).

  • Firms bundle their goods because the marginal cost of adding additional products is minimal and the benefit from network effects is high if consumers use the included products instead of purchasing them separately from competing firms.

QUESTIONS: Why would a firm selling a network good choose to segment its customers by charging different prices? Wouldn’t it make more money by just charging everyone a high price?

Answers to the Checkpoint questions can be found at the end of this chapter.

A network good generally has a low marginal cost of production; therefore, any revenue a firm collects, even at low prices, typically increases its profit. By segmenting the market, the firm is separating customers based on their elasticity of demand. Customers with lower elasticities of demand are willing to pay a higher price than customers with higher elasticities of demand. Firms can segment the market by versioning their products. Products can be differentiated by time, peak usage, or bundling to create different versions of the same good at different prices.