Discriminatory pricing and spatial competition in two-sided media markets

Abstract

This study describes a spatial model of price discrimination in two-sided media markets. Given that media platforms offer a uniform price for consumers and either a uniform or discriminatory price for advertisers, we compare a platform's profit and welfare under these two different pricing schemes. In contrast to the well-known result that price discrimination based on a consumer's location leads to lower profits, if consumers have a strong aversion to advertising, we show that a platform's profit is better off under price discrimination. In addition, if consumers rather dislike advertising, we show that price discrimination is detrimental to both a platform's profit and the consumer's welfare.