Publications

This paper provides the first formal model of business model innovation. Our analysis focuses on sponsor-based business model innovations where a firm monetizes its product through sponsors rather than setting prices to its customer base. We analyze strategic... View Details

Keywords: Business Model Innovation; Imitation; Sponsor-based Business Model; Strategic Revelation; Strategic Concealment; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Price; Competitive Strategy; Adoption; Value; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Product; Customers; Market Entry and Exit; Monopoly

Article

Entry into Platform-based Markets

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

This paper examines the relative importance of platform quality, indirect network effects, and consumer expectations on the success of entrants in platform-based markets. We develop a theoretical model and find that an entrant's success depends on the strength of... View Details

Keywords: Platform-based Markets; Winnter-take-all; First-mover Advantage; Indirect Network Effects; Video Game Industry; Quality; Network Effects; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

Article

Is Wikipedia Biased?

By: Shane Greenstein and Feng Zhu

2011
Article

Group Size and Incentives to Contribute: A Natural Experiment at Chinese Wikipedia

By: Michael Zhang and Feng Zhu

In this paper, we examine the causal relationship between group size and incentives to contribute in the setting of Chinese Wikipedia, the Chinese language version of an online encyclopedia that relies entirely on voluntary contributions. The group at Chinese Wikipedia... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Groups and Teams; Knowledge Sharing; Behavior; Satisfaction; Size; Government and Politics; Economics; Information Technology Industry; Hong Kong; Taiwan; Singapore

September 2010
Article

Strategies to Fight Ad-sponsored Rivals

We analyze the optimal strategy of a high-quality incumbent that faces a low-quality ad-sponsored competitor. In addition to competing through adjustments of tactical variables such as price or the number of ads a product carries, we allow the incumbent to consider... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Models; Tactics; Pricing; Business Model; Advertising; Competition; Quality; Price; Product Marketing

Purchase

2011
Working Paper

Business Model Innovation and Competitive Imitation: The Case of Sponsor-Based Business Models

We study sponsor-based business model innovations where a firm monetizes its product through sponsors rather than setting prices to its customer base. We analyze strategic interactions between an innovative entrant and an incumbent where the incumbent may imitate the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value

2001
Working Paper

Strategies to Fight Ad-sponsored Rivals

We analyze the optimal strategy of a high-quality incumbent that faces a low-quality ad-sponsored competitor. In addition to competing through adjustments of tactical variables such as price or the number of ads a product carries, we allow the incumbent to consider... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Model; Competition; Competitive Strategy

2010
Article

Impact of Online Consumer Reviews on Sales: The Moderating Role of Product and Consumer Characteristics

By: Feng Zhu and Michael Zhang

This article examines how product and consumer characteristics moderate the influence of online consumer reviews on product sales using data from the video game industry. The findings indicate that online reviews are more influential for less popular games and games... View Details

Keywords: Internet Marketing; Online Consumer Reviews; Word Of Mouth; Long Tail; Internet and the Web; Marketing Reference Programs; Digital Marketing; Video Game Industry

2007
Working Paper

Dynamics of Platform Competition: Exploring the Role of Installed Base, Platform Quality and Consumer Expectations

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

This paper seeks to answer three questions. First, which drives the success of a platform, installed base, platform quality or consumer expectations? Second, when does a monopoly emerge in a platform-based market? Finally, when is a platform-based market socially... View Details

Keywords: Price; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Monopoly; Quality; Competitive Advantage; Digital Platforms

June 2007
Article

What Is the Impact of Software Patent Shifts? Evidence from Lotus v. Borland

By: Josh Lerner and Feng Zhu

Economists have debated the extent to which strengthening patent protection spurs or detracts from technological innovation. This paper examines the reduction of software copyright protection in the Lotus v. Borland decision. If patent and copyright protections are... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Patents; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

Forthcoming
Article

Antitrust Platform Regulation and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China

By: Ke Rong, D. Daniel Sokol, Di Zhou and Feng Zhu

Many jurisdictions have launched antitrust enforcement and brought in regulation of large tech platforms. The swift and strict implementation of China’s Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Platform Economy (Platform Guidelines) provides a quasi-natural experiment... View Details

Keywords: Platform; Antitrust; Regulation; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Supply and Industry; China