Optimal Software Free Trial Strategy: Limited Version, Time-locked, or Hybrid?

被引：80
作者：
Cheng, Hsing Kenneth [1 ]
Li, Shengli [2 ]
Liu, Yipeng [3 ]
机构：
[1] Univ Florida, Warrington Coll Business Adm, Dept Informat Syst & Operat Management, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA
[2] Xi An Jiao Tong Univ, Sch Management, Dept Informat Management & Elect Commerce, Xian 710049, Shaanxi, Peoples R China
[3] Univ Illinois, Coll Business, Dept Operat Management & Informat Syst, De Kalb, IL 60115 USA
来源：
PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT | 2015年 / 24卷 / 03期
关键词：
software free trial; network effects; hybrid free trial; NETWORK EXTERNALITIES; CONSUMER; PRODUCTS;
D O I：
10.1111/poms.12248
中图分类号：
T [工业技术];
学科分类号：
08 ;
摘要：
Limited version, time-locked, and hybrid are three software free trial strategies employed by software firms to exploit increased installed base and/or reduction of consumers' uncertainty about software quality. We develop an analytical model to examine these three software free trial strategies. We find that the hybrid strategy weakly dominates the limited and time-locked versions, and the intensity of the network effects is a key factor determining which strategy is optimal.
引用
收藏
页码：504 / 517
页数：14
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