Consumption in the age of digital plenty: three essays into an emerging phenomenon

The recent changes in the software markets gave users an unprecedented number

of alternatives for any given task. In such a competitive environment, it is imperative

to understand what drives user behavior. To that end, the research presented in

this dissertation, tries to uncover the impact of business strategies often used in the

software markets.

The dissertation is organized into three distinct studies into user choice and post

choice use of software. First using social judgment theory as foundation, zero price

strategies effects on user choice is investigated, with respect to product features,

consumer characteristics, and context effects. Second, role of social features in

moderating network effects on user choice is studied. And finally, the role of social

features on the effectiveness of add-on content strategy on continued user engagement

is investigated.

The findings of this dissertation highlight the alignments between popular business

strategies and broad software context. The dissertation contributes to the litera-

ture by uncovering hitherto overlooked complementarities between business strategy

and product features: (1) zero price strategy enhances utilitarian features but not

non-utilitarian features in software choice, (2) social features only enhance network

externalities but not social influence in user choice, (3) social features enhance the

effect of add-on content strategy in extending software engagement.