Research On The Network Externality Of Digital Publishing Platforms

Recent years, the digital publishing industry of our country develops fast and movesinto a stage of platform competition. The competition of digital publishing platformscontains all respects including content, operating and services. However, many digitalpublishing platforms do not make the best use of internet economy by far and faces twoproblems: insufficient profitability of content and blindness in platform competition.Digital publishing platforms have a feature of two-sided market as connecting theProduction and consumption of digital published products. There exist networkexternalities in and between different kinds of customers on platform. This paper is aimedto study the network externalities of digital platforms and to analysis the cause,demonstration and effects of them by applying Two-sided market theory and Networkeconomy theory as well as case research. This paper also applied the networkexternalities of digital publishing platforms into the price strategy, differentiationcompetitive strategy and competition structure study. Besides, it offered suggestions onthe development of digital publishing platforms.