The Implications of Offering Free Versions for the Performance of Paid Apps

Question 1

How is the positive association between paid app user ratings and adoption speed for hedonic apps and utilitarian apps?

Answer 1

Smaller for hedonic apps (games) than for utilitarian apps

Question 2

When does versioning expand the market?

Answer 2

only when uncertainty about a product’s usefulness is low or, in the case the usefulness is high, when the producers can charge a hefty price premium for upgrading customers.

Question 3

When is offering a feature-limited free version more profitable?

Answer 3

in the presence of positive network effects

Question 4

When is offering a time-limited trial version more profitable?

Answer 4

in the absense of positive network effects.

Question 5

What are the major challenges of time-limited trials?

Answer 5

some offers only need the product for a short time and they could be hacked for repeated use.

Question 6

Are the price and the adoption speed associated?

Answer 6

No

Question 7

Do games or apps have a higher adoption speed?

Answer 7

Games

Question 8

Is the free version more negative for games or apps?

Answer 8

Games

Question 9

Is the user rating more positively associated with the adoption speed for games or apps?

Answer 9

Apps