Speed Matters: The Role of Free Software Offer in Software Diffusion

Jiang, Zhengrui; Sarkar, Sumit

doi:10.2753/mis0742-1222260307

Cited by 50 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…A wide variety of studies can be derived from our results and conclusions, covering topics related to both content and method. On the content side, as the phenomenon of dual-licensing was just recently identified and discussed (Jiang and Sarkar, 2009;Watson et al, 2008), and, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to empirically assess the impacts of this choice, replications would be beneficial. Moreover, Agerfalk and Fitzgerald (2008) pointed out that the recruitment of developers from an open source project by sponsors could erode the ''unknown'' aspect of the project, affecting trust levels and innovation rates.…”

Section: Future Workmentioning

confidence: 93%

The attraction of contributors in free and open source software projects

Santos

Kuk

Kon

et al. 2013

The Journal of Strategic Information Systems

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Section: Future Workmentioning

confidence: 93%

The attraction of contributors in free and open source software projects

Santos

Kuk

Kon

et al. 2013

The Journal of Strategic Information Systems

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“…When network effects strongly dominate stand-alone benefits from the product (i.e., benefits in the absence of the network), firms may find it profitable to spark adoption by giving away some consumption for free. In this paper, we focus on seeding strategies, whereby the firms give the products with full functionality and perpetual license to a few customers to boost the WTP of other customers and catalyze adoption (Lehmann and Esteban-Bravo 2006, Jiang and Sarkar 2009, Galeotti and Goyal 2009. Alternative strategies that are also employed in the industry to spark adoption involve freemium approaches (limited-time free trials or free versions with stripped-down functionality- Niculescu and Wu 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering Optimal Network Effects via Social Media Features and Seeding in Markets for Digital Goods and Services

Dou

Niculescu

2013

Information Systems Research

118

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Firms nowadays are increasingly proactive in trying to strategically capitalize on consumer networks and social interactions. In this paper, we complement an emerging body of research on the engineering of wordof-mouth effects by exploring a different angle through which firms can strategically exploit the value-generation potential of the user network. Namely, we consider how software firms should optimize the strength of network effects at utility level by adjusting the level of embedded social media features in tandem with the right market seeding and pricing strategies in the presence of seeding disutility. We explore two opposing seeding cost models where seeding-induced disutility can be either positively or negatively correlated with customer type. We consider both complete and incomplete information scenarios for the firm. Under complete information, we uncover a complementarity relationship between seeding and building social media features that holds for both disutility models. When the cost of any of these actions increases, rather than compensating by a stronger action on the other dimension to restore the overall level of network effects, the firm will actually scale back on the other initiative as well. Under incomplete information, this complementarity holds when seeding disutility is negatively correlated with customer type but may not always hold in the other disutility model, potentially leading to fundamentally different optimal strategies. We also discuss how our insights apply to asymmetric networks.

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“…By contrast, a merger will sometimes sell to new consumers who have lower valuation for product quality first. Other than expanding clientele to build critical mass (Clemons and Weber, 1996;Van de Ven, 2005) or to cultivate network effects (Lee and Mendelson, 2007;Jiang and Sarkar, 2009;Liu et al, 2011), we show that exercising the price discrimination power granted by M&A can be a novel motivation.…”

Section: No Upgrade Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Technology Mergers and Acquisitions in the Presence of an Installed Base: A Strategic Analysis

Wang

Hui

2017

Information Systems Research

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We study the strategic benefits of M&A when competing IT vendors sell different generations of the same product with different quality. We assume the new product arrives unexpectedly when an installed base of old product exists. We show that the combination of consumers' purchase history and heterogeneity leads to new demand complexity that gives rise to innovative product strategies. We find that shelving the old product is an important motivation for M&A. The acquirer may exercise static or intertemporal price discrimination depending on whether it can exercise upgrade pricing. M&A may speed up or slow down new product consumption, and it can lead to delayed new product introduction in some markets. However, it always increases the acquirer's profit and can sometimes help maximize social welfare. We discuss relevant managerial and policy implications.

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Speed Matters: The Role of Free Software Offer in Software Diffusion

Cited by 50 publications

References 25 publications

The attraction of contributors in free and open source software projects

The attraction of contributors in free and open source software projects

Engineering Optimal Network Effects via Social Media Features and Seeding in Markets for Digital Goods and Services

Technology Mergers and Acquisitions in the Presence of an Installed Base: A Strategic Analysis

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