ScholarWorks@Y-Scholar Hub

초록

As the mobile application market continues to grow and competition intensifies, many companies seek to change their pricing strategies (e.g., discounting) to attract competitors’ customers. However, empirical studies examining the related issues in the mobile app context are still lacking. This study investigates how making paid apps free of charge affects consumer behavior, especially app usage of competitors’ customers. Based on mobile log data analysis, our study shows that the transition from a paid to a free app makes competitors’ customers use the focal app more frequently. Furthermore, we find that consumer characteristics and online search interest have moderating effects. Our study provides crucial managerial implications for practitioners who manage mobile applications and mobile marketing.