This dissertation looks at several issues in designing an optimal skill-based
consumer contest (SBCC). Consumer product (or service) companies, such as
online entertainment providers, often use SBCCs to promote the consumption of
their products (or services). The main objective of a SBCC is to maximize the
profit from the enhanced consumption by consumers rather than their outcome in
the contest. This research is the first to investigate design issues in contests of this
kind.
The first part of the dissertation explores the role of SBCCs in online
entertainment area by focusing on the status-seeking behavior of human beings.
Drawing from psychology literature, I argue that the desire for status provides a strong motive for consumers to compete with each other in online entertainment
communities.
In the second part of the dissertation, I build a game-theoretical model to
study a handful of design issues arising from the SBCCs. In this framework, a
monopoly firm faces n consumers who may differ in skill levels. The firm offers a
set of prizes to consumers in a SBCC that requires two inputs: skill and
consumption. One of the main findings in this research is that a Winner-Take-All
prize structure is often optimal (but not always) for the SBCCs. Another finding is
that consumers will compete more aggressively when their skill levels are closer
to each other. As a result, the firm may be better off by segmenting consumers
based on their skill levels. In addition, in some cases, the firm is better off by
charging an entry fee to exclude low-skilled consumers. These findings contribute
to existing literature on contest designs and provide practical guidelines for
structuring a SBCC.
The last part of the dissertation empirically analyzes two individual-level
datasets from a wireless game to verify the insights obtained from the theoretical
model. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/7471 |
| Date | 26 May 2010 |
| Creators | Liu, De |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | electronic |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works. |
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