TY - JOUR
T1 - Value-informed Pricing for Virtual Digital Products
T2 - Evidence from Chinese MMORPG industry
AU - Ren, Qun
AU - Rong , Ke
AU - Lu, Chao
AU - Liu, Gordon
AU - Ross, Margaret
PY - 2018/10/3
Y1 - 2018/10/3
N2 - Value-informed pricing strategy, which focuses on determining the price level of products based on consumer value perception, is especially suitable to be applied in digital products rather than industrial ones. By carrying out 65 in-depth interviews with people involved in the Chinese Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) industry, this article explores the process through which a value-informed pricing strategy is applied to determine the price level of virtual in-game accessories—exploring pricing preference through interacting with game players, swaying pricing alternatives through managing the competitive environment, and manipulating value perception through shaping the virtual marketplace. Furthermore, this article constructs a theoretical framework of value-informed pricing, including the above process, and deciphers the linkage mechanism between different segments. The findings not only enrich the theory of value-informed pricing under the application context of virtual digital products but also have implications for the practitioners in the MMORPG industry.
AB - Value-informed pricing strategy, which focuses on determining the price level of products based on consumer value perception, is especially suitable to be applied in digital products rather than industrial ones. By carrying out 65 in-depth interviews with people involved in the Chinese Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) industry, this article explores the process through which a value-informed pricing strategy is applied to determine the price level of virtual in-game accessories—exploring pricing preference through interacting with game players, swaying pricing alternatives through managing the competitive environment, and manipulating value perception through shaping the virtual marketplace. Furthermore, this article constructs a theoretical framework of value-informed pricing, including the above process, and deciphers the linkage mechanism between different segments. The findings not only enrich the theory of value-informed pricing under the application context of virtual digital products but also have implications for the practitioners in the MMORPG industry.
U2 - 10.1177/1470785318799909
DO - 10.1177/1470785318799909
M3 - Article
SN - 1470-7853
VL - 62
SP - 350
EP - 368
JO - International Journal of Market Research
JF - International Journal of Market Research
IS - 3
ER -