Int. J. Electronic Marketing and Retailing, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2016 159 Understanding the price drivers of successful apps in the mobile app market Paolo Roma* DICGIM – Management and Economics Research Group, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128, Palermo, Italy Email:
[email protected] *Corresponding author Gandolfo Dominici SEAS – Polytechnic School, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128, Palermo, Italy Email:
[email protected] Abstract: In this paper, we take the perspective of app developers. Specifically, based on a sample of top paid apps from three major app stores, i.e., App Store, Google Play, and Blackberry World, we construct a hedonic price model to examine the role of relevant factors in price formation in the app market. Our results suggest a strong evidence of two-sided market effects. In fact, the lower price charged for apps operating as two-sided markets reflect the strategy of subsidising users, due to the positive cross-side externalities they exert on valuable third parties. Surprisingly, the effects of trialability, in-app purchase and mechanisms to build reputation are not significant in the context of successful apps. Finally, we find weak evidence that developers of top paid apps prefer price skimming to penetration price strategies. Keywords: mobile app market; online distribution; pricing; two-sided market. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Roma, P. and Dominici, G. (2016) ‘Understanding the price drivers of successful apps in the mobile app market’, Int. J. Electronic Marketing and Retailing, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.159–185. Biographical notes: Paolo Roma is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Palermo, Italy.