earticle

영어

This paper sets an analytical model to study the scenario that two differentiated sellers simultaneously trade on two competitive heterogeneous platforms—for-profit platform and open platform. Three research questions are discussed: (1) If sellers trade on both competitive heterogeneous platforms, how should he/she price on the different platforms and what are the impact factors? (2) How do the fees charged by for-profit platforms to sellers and consumers affect sellers’ pricing and consumers’ selection on platforms? (3) What is the difference of seller’s investment incentives between for-profit platforms and open platforms? This paper finds that if the total fees charged by for-profit platforms keep constant, the split-up between the fees to sellers and consumers will not affect consumers’ selection of platforms. Both the fees charged by the for-profit platform and consumers distribution between platforms will affect sellers’ decision on pricing and investment on heterogeneous platforms.