To cater to the diverse needs of consumers, on-demand service platforms often provide vertically differentiated services and allow consumers to choose their preferred service class. In the traditional service-hailing mode, consumers choose from vertically differentiated services in a deterministic way. However, an emerging service mode bundles options to allow consumers to choose multiple classes of services simultaneously, after which the system assigns one class, which seems probabilistic from the consumer’s point of view. This paper elucidates the differences between the deterministic (DE) and probabilistic (PR) service-hailing modes in terms of the decision-making and profitability of the on-demand platform. It also investigates the platform’s optimal pricing decisions under the DE and PR modes and service mode choices. This paper constructs a stylized model capturing the participation and interaction behaviors of consumers and self-employed service agents, assuming endogenous supply and demand. The model is used to characterize the platform’s optimal price and wage decisions for vertically differentiated services. The results show that the platform’s pricing strategies and service targets are jointly determined by demand-side and supply-side factors, and whether the platform should adopt DE or PR mode is contingent on the consumers’ basic valuation level and its volatility. Furthermore, exploring a more complex hybrid mode suggests that introducing the bundled option does not necessarily boost the platform’s profit. Our findings offer meaningful insights into the pricing strategies and service-hailing mode selections of on-demand platforms offering vertically differentiated services.

为了满足消费者的多样化需求，按需服务平台往往提供垂直差异化的服务，并允许消费者选择自己喜欢的服务等级。在传统的网约车模式中，消费者以确定性的方式选择垂直差异化的服务。然而，一种新兴的服务模式捆绑了选项，允许消费者同时选择多种服务类别，然后系统分配一个类别，从消费者的角度来看，这似乎是概率性的。本文阐述了确定性（DE）和概率性（PR）网约车模式在决策和盈利方面的差异。还研究了DE和PR模式下平台的最优定价决策以及服务模式选择。本文构建了一个程式化模型，在假设内生供给和需求的情况下，捕捉消费者和个体服务代理人的参与和互动行为。该模型用于描述平台针对垂直差异化服务的最优价格和工资决策。研究结果表明，平台的定价策略和服务目标是由需求方和供给方因素共同决定的，平台采用DE模式还是PR模式取决于消费者的基本评价水平及其波动性。此外，探索更复杂的混合模式表明，引入捆绑选项并不一定会提高平台的利润。我们的研究结果为提供垂直差异化服务的按需平台的定价策略和服务模式选择提供了有意义的见解。