Adopting subscription models has become a popular trend in e-commerce. Digital content platforms often use free trials to attract potential subscribers. However, rigorous research on platforms’ free trial strategies is lacking. Our paper aims to fill this gap using a horizontal duopoly framework. We investigate both the scenario of market symmetry and of market asymmetry. We study the benchmark case with no free trial for each scenario and derive equilibrium results with free trial promotion. We find that the platform will not benefit from free trials unless consumers’ learning rate exceeds a threshold. When a free trial is introduced in market symmetry, a higher rate of consumers’ learning leads to a higher price of subscription and a shorter free trial length. In addition, when the network effect is incorporated, the platform will introduce a lower subscription price and a shorter free trial length. Under market asymmetry, our results show that the platform faces a higher threshold of consumers’ learning rate. Additionally, it will offer a higher price and a longer period of free trial compared with those under the market symmetry scenario. Overall, our study provides useful managerial insights for online content platforms when considering their subscription strategies.

中文翻译：

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网络平台数字内容订阅免费试用策略分析

采用订阅模式已成为电子商务的流行趋势。数字内容平台经常使用免费试用来吸引潜在订阅者。然而，目前缺乏对平台免费试用策略的严谨研究。我们的论文旨在使用水平双头垄断框架来填补这一空白。我们研究市场对称和市场不对称的情况。我们研究每个场景的无免费试用的基准案例，并得出免费试用推广的均衡结果。我们发现，除非消费者的学习率超过阈值，否则该平台不会从免费试用中受益。当在市场对称的情况下引入免费试用时，消费者的学习率越高，订阅价格越高，免费试用时间越短。此外，当融入网络效应后，平台将推出更低的订阅价格和更短的免费试用期。在市场不对称的情况下，我们的结果表明平台面临着更高的消费者学习率门槛。此外，与市场对称场景相比，它将提供更高的价格和更长的免费试用期。总的来说，我们的研究为在线内容平台考虑订阅策略时提供了有用的管理见解。