Designing Scalable Business Models

Digital business models are often designed for rapid growth, and some relatively young companies have indeed achieved global scale. However despite the visibility and importance of this phenomenon, analysis of scale and scalability remains underdeveloped in management literature. When it is addressed, analysis of this phenomenon is often over-influenced by arguments about economies of scale in production and distribution. To redress this omission, this paper draws on economic, organization and technology management literature to provide a detailed examination of the sources of scaling in digital businesses. We propose three mechanisms by which digital business models attempt to gain scale: engaging both non- paying users and paying customers; organizing customer engagement to allow self- customization; and orchestrating networked value chains, such as platforms or multi-sided business models. Scaling conditions are discussed, and propositions developed and illustrated with examples of big data entrepreneurial firms

Empowering End Users in Debugging Trigger-Action Rules

End users can program trigger-action rules to personalize the joint behavior of their smart devices and online services. Trigger-action programming is, however, a complex task for non-programmers and errors made during the composition of rules may lead to unpredictable behaviors and security issues, e.g., a lamp that is continuously fashing or a door that is unexpectedly unlocked. In this paper, we introduce EUDebug, a system that enables end users to debug trigger-action rules. With EUDebug, users compose rules in a web-based application like IFTTT. EUDebug highlights possible problems that the set of all defned rules may generate and allows their step-by-step simulation. Under the hood, a hybrid Semantic Colored Petri Net (SCPN) models, checks, and simulates trigger-action rules and their interactions. An exploratory study on 15 end users shows that EUDebug helps identifying and understanding problems in trigger-action rules, which are not easily discoverable in existing platforms

An analysis of fake social media engagement services

Fake engagement services allow users of online social media and other web platforms to illegitimately increase their online reach and boost their perceived popularity. Driven by socio-economic and even political motivations, the demand for fake engagement services has increased in the last years, which has incentivized the rise of a vast underground market and support infrastructure. Prior research in this area has been limited to the study of the infrastructure used to provide these services (e.g., botnets) and to the development of algorithms to detect and remove fake activity in online targeted platforms. Yet, the platforms in which these services are sold (known as panels) and the underground markets offering these services have not received much research attention. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper studies Social Media Management (SMM) panels, i.e., reselling platforms¿often found in underground forums¿in which a large variety of fake engagement services are offered. By daily crawling 86 representative SMM panels for 4 months, we harvest a dataset with 2.8 M forum entries grouped into 61k different services. This dataset allows us to build a detailed catalog of the services for sale, the platforms they target, and to derive new insights on fake social engagement services and its market. We then perform an economic analysis of fake engagement services and their trading activities by automatically analyzing 7k threads in underground forums. Our analysis reveals a broad range of offered services and levels of customization, where buyers can acquire fake engagement services by selecting features such as the quality of the service, the speed of delivery, the country of origin, and even personal attributes of the fake account (e.g., gender). The price analysis also yields interesting empirical results, showing significant disparities between prices of the same product across different markets. These observations suggest that the market is still undeveloped and sellers do not know the real market value of the services that they offer, leading them to underprice or overprice their services.This work was supported by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant agreement no. 101021377 (TRUST aWARE ); the Spanish grants ODIO (PID2019-111429RB-C21 and PID2019-111429RB-C22), and the Region of Madrid grant CYNAMON-CM (P2018/TCS-4566), co-financed by European Structural Funds ESF and FEDER

Manufacturing “Hits”: A Data-Driven AI Approach to Releasing a Pop Song in 2022

Technology is radically transforming the music industry through the use of big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. This paper presents a pilot study that examines the impact of data-driven approaches in creating, predicting, and marketing music. A machine learning algorithm is used to determine the optimal characteristics of the most popular songs and is used as the basis for creating the next song. Next, an AI technique was used to generate the inspiration of the instrumentation and lyrics of the song. Finally, a listener survey is used to determine the trend which included the mood, preference and context for the song. The song is then released on Spotify. The success of the song is determined by comparing the number of streams to two songs released the previous without the use of data. The results show that creating and marketing a song using AI models, Spotify listener data analysis, and listener questionnaires strongly positively impact a song’s streaming success. While this is a pilot study, the findings of this study can be used more extensively to determine success of music videos and releases and serve as a guidance to artists with more quantitative insight

Music streaming market in Portugal: the introduction of a new music streaming service

Este projeto de mestrado é um projeto que procura estudar a viabilidade de um novo serviço inovador de música streaming em Portugal. Com vista a dar uma resposta adequada, foi feito um estudo generalizado do mercado, no qual foram aprofundados os avanços tecnológicos do setor, como funcionam os negócios de plataformas online, identificadas as necessidades do mercado e do potencial consumidor. Este estudo deu uma noção geral do mercado, que não foi, no entanto, suficiente para perceber se os consumidores potenciais realmente precisam de uma nova plataforma de música streaming. Para colmatar isto, foi feito um questionário, que foi distribuído pela população Portuguesa, de modo a recolher os seus hábitos de consumo de música online e avaliar se as suas necessidades, enquanto consumidores de música streaming, estão a ser suprimidas. A conclusão é de que existe uma discrepância entre as plataformas de música streaming existentes no mercado Português e as necessidades da população. Isto representa uma oportunidade. Com base nisto, definida uma estratégia de marketing e foi quantificado o investimento necessário, bem como o retorno financeiro, de um novo serviço de música streaming.This is a project, conducted within the scope of the Management Master program, that aims to evaluate the viability of a new music streaming service introduction in the Portuguese market. In order to give an adequate response, a general study of the market was carried out, the technological advances of the sector and how the online platform business operates were exploited. A market characterization was also made and it was identified who the potential consumer is. This study gave a general notion of the market. However, it was not sufficient to realize if potential consumers indeed need a new music streaming platform. To fill this gap, it was conducted a survey among the Portuguese population. The aim was to collect their habits of music streaming consumption and evaluate if their needs are being answered. With this project it was possible to conclude that there is a discrepancy between the music streaming platforms existing in the Portuguese market and the needs of its population. This represents an opportunity. Therefore, a marketing plan was defined and the necessary investment was quantified, as well as the financial return, of the introduction of a new streaming music service

HaaS : drivers that customers value in a smartphone subscription model base

Subscription models are more and more well-liked by consumers as smartphone usage rises. For a smartphone subscription model program to maintain long-term client loyalty and profitability, it is crucial to comprehend the motivations that customers appreciate. The present paper aims to understand customers’ motivations in a smartphone subscription model. This paper investigates the factors that motivate consumers to subscribe to smartphone subscription models. Data was collected through surveys and in-depth interviews. The main goal of this research was to develop a thorough understanding of consumer values and preferences with regard to smartphones and potential future smartphone subscription models. The survey and interviews revealed information about the features and factors that customers value in smartphones and revealed their preferences for subscription-based business models. Through interviews and surveys, it uncovers key factors influencing consumer choices in the smartphone market and provides valuable insights into potential features of smartphone subscription models. According to the research, factors such as smartphone build quality, camera quality, and ecosystem compatibility have a big impact on buying decisions. In addition to appreciating the convenience and financial advantages of recurring upgrades without significant upfront costs, consumers value upgrade options and early access to new products. Competitive pricing and brand loyalty play crucial roles in selecting a smartphone subscription service.Modelos de subscrição estão cada vez mais populares entre os consumidores à medida que o uso de smartphones aumenta. De forma que um modelo de subscrição de smartphones mantenha os consumidores fiéis a longo prazo, é crucial compreender as suas motivações. O presente relatório tem como objetivo estudar as motivações dos consumidores num modelo de subscrição de smartphones. Este paper visa estudar os fatores que motivam os consumidores a aderir a um modelo de subscrição de smartphones. Os dados foram recolhidos através de questionário e entrevistas. O objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi desenvolver uma compreensão aprofundada dos valores e preferências dos consumidores em relação aos smartphones e potenciais futuros modelos de subscrição. O questionário e as entrevistas revelaram informações sobre as características e os fatores que os clientes valorizam nos smartphones e revelaram as suas preferências por modelos de negócio baseados em subscrições. Através das entrevistas e do questionário, são identificados fatores-chave que influenciam as escolhas dos consumidores no mercado de smartphones e fornecem informações valiosas sobre as características potenciais dos modelos de subscrição de smartphones. De acordo com o estudo, fatores como a qualidade do smartphone e compatibilidade com o ecossistema têm um grande impacto nas decisões de compra. Além de apreciarem a conveniência e as vantagens financeiras de atualizações periódicas sem custos iniciais significativos, os consumidores valorizam a possibilidade de atualizar o hardware e o acesso antecipado a novos produtos. Preços competitivos e fidelidade à marca desempenham papéis cruciais na seleção de um serviço de subscrição de smartphone

Consumption of musical content and movies/series online in Portugal

Abstract —This study addresses the consumption of musical and/or movies and series online according to the frequency of Internet use. The time spent on Internet, nowadays, goes beyond a simple search or checking the email. What will be the sociodemographic characteristics of Portuguese users? Will the choices facing the Portuguese users be homogeneous in what concerns the frequency of Internet use to access music and movies online? The answer to these research questions is the aim of this study. Using the Flash Eurobarometer 437 database, it is identified that age is significantly related to the frequency of using the Internet to access music and movies online. It is also observed that gender is significantly related to frequency of using the Internet to access movies online. However, the perception of quality and speed of Internet connection are not significantly related to frequency of using the Internet. The choices facing the Portuguese users are not homogeneous regarding the frequency of Internet use to access music and movies online as observed in four different clusters with different characteristics. These results can be an indication that policies concerning the music and movies contents should fit the characteristics of each of these clusters.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Antitrust in the Information Economy: Digital Platform Mergers

The growth of large digital platforms has caused some observers to claim that merger policy has been too lax to protect consumer welfare, stating a predicate for antitrust policy reform. We address this by exploring the relative importance of past mergers to the current value of the five largest platforms (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft). We find that mergers have not been as important to these platforms’ size compared with other large technology companies. Even so, it could be argued that the mergers engaged in by these platforms have harmed efficiency. Listing the combinations often used to advance this view, we find that such mergers cited by reform advocates have often been associated with competitive or benign outcomes rather than with adverse effects associated with creation of a monopoly. Further analysis (and government litigation) will likely inform this perspective