This study highlights single- and dual-version selection strategies for self-media platforms. In practice, the challenge of balancing display and influencer advertising benefits to maximize revenue has led some platforms to introduce a clean version alongside the original version, while others have not.
We derive a simple decision rule for determining versioning optimality by utilizing an optimization model.
Self-media platforms can profitably employ single versioning when the clean version has minimal functional limitations. When the degree of functional limitations is moderate, an increase in the influencer advertising revenue coefficient prompts the platform to transition from not considering adding another version to exploring adding a clean version. When functional limitations are high, an interesting phenomenon emerges: once the influencer advertising revenue coefficient surpasses a certain threshold, the platform should reconsider its single-version strategy. Moreover, when both the degree of functional limitations and the influencer advertising revenue coefficient are large, self-media platforms can achieve a win-win outcome with consumers by choosing single versioning.
This study examines the strategic choice between single- and dual-versions for self-media platforms that rely on traffic revenue, considering social effects and the differences between influencer and display advertising.
