A Research On Business Mode Of Microblog In The View Of Two-sided Market

As the newest product of internet industry, not only does microblog follow thegeneral rules of internet industry, but also has its own unique characteristics anddevelopment mode. And more and more attention has paid on how to get profits fromthe new industry. Research on two-sided market theories has proved big success,however, there is few literatures focus on the microblog’s business modes in domesticacademia.Based on the view of two-sided markets theory, the author chose the microblog tobe the research object. According to the definition and classification of two-sidedplatforms, this paper differentiated the business modes of microblog into the advertisingmode and the third party applications mode. Focused on the pricing strategies, thispaper tried to find the pricing structure in the social welfare maximization and platformprofit maximization conditions under two business modes. It was also discussed in thisthesis, that the influence of cross-group network externalities and price elasticity ofdemand to the platform’s pricing strategies， which are expected to provide someconsults for the future development of micro-blog industry in China.The author expanded the analytical framework of Armstrong(2006),and structuredthe advertising pricing model and the third party application pricing model under themonopoly condition.Through analysis, this paper had drawn some main conclusions. In the advertisingmode, the platform’s pricing strategy is influence by four elements, including directnetwork externalities between microblog’s users, cross-group network externalitiesbetween users and advertisers, price elasticity of user’s demands, marginal costs of theplatform’s service. The first two elements decided the platform’s price subsidy to theusers.In the third party application mode, the platform’s price subsidy is not only decidedby cross-group network externalities between users and application suppliers, but alsoinfluenced by the possibility of a deal. As a result, the platform has to do more promotethe applications and try to make better use of the customer resources in the future.