Yıl: 2022 Cilt: 23 Sayı: 2 Sayfa Aralığı: 635 - 642 Metin Dili: İngilizce DOI: 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898 İndeks Tarihi: 17-08-2022

The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders

Öz:
Freemium is a concept that emerged with the combination of the terms "free" and "premium", where free and premium versions are offered together. The freemium business model has been widely used in online markets recently. Today, many digital businesses implement the freemium business model, in which paid and free versions are offered together. However, there is a limited perspective on the success of the freemium business model. The purpose of this article is to highlight the key points of being successful in the digital world with the freemium business model. In the study, the main strategies that enable an online organization to run a successful freemium business model are explained with the canvas business model and the 4V business model framework. In this regard, multiple case studies were conducted on online digital companies (LinkedIn, Youtube, Spotify, and Google Drive) that managed to develop a sustainable freemium model. Studies examining the freemium business model are limited in the literature. The current study aims to expand the current understanding of the freemium business model, help online companies evaluate whether the freemium business model is suitable for them, and develop strategies to develop and maintain a successful freemium business model. Research findings reveal that differentiated product offerings and growth strategies are the cornerstones of the freemium business model. Expanding the user base, maintaining the balance between free and paid versions, investing in innovation, strategic partnerships, interaction with social networks, gaining insight from users, and internationalization are critical for the sustainability of the freemium business model. Finally, value propositions must be perceived well by the customer to increase customer loyalty.
Anahtar Kelime: Freemium Freemium business model Business model canvas

Freemium İş Modelinin Başarısı: Endüstri Liderlerinin Çoklu Vaka Çalışması

Öz:
Freemium, ücretsiz ve premium sürümlerin bir arada sunulduğu “free” ve “premium” terimlerinin birleşimi ile ortaya çıkmış bir kavramdır. Freemium iş modeli, son zamanlarda çevrimiçi pazarlarda yaygın olarak kullanılmaktadır. Günümüzde birçok dijital işletme ücretli ve ücretsiz sürümlerin bir arada sunulduğu freemium iş modelini uygulamaktadır. Ancak freemium iş modelinin başarısı hakkında kısıtlı bir bakış açısı bulunmaktadır. Bu makalenin amacı, dijital dünyada freemium iş modeli ile başarılı olmanın kilit noktalarını vurgulamaktır. Çalışmada, dijital bir işletmenin başarılı bir freemium iş modeli uygulamasını sağlayan temel stratejileri kanvas iş modeli ve 4V iş modeli çerçevesi ile açıklanmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, sürdürülebilir bir freemium modeli geliştirmeyi başaran çevrimiçi sektörde faaliyet gösteren dijital şirketler (LinkedIn, Youtube, Spotify ve Google Drive) üzerinden çoklu vaka çalışmaları gerçekleştirilmiştir. Literatürde freemium iş modelini inceleyen çalışmaların kısıtlı olduğu görülmektedir. Mevcut çalışma, freemium iş modelinin sınırlı anlayışını genişletmeyi, çevrimiçi şirketlerin freemium iş modelinin kendileri için uygun olup olmadığını değerlendirmelerine ve başarılı bir freemium iş modeli geliştirmek ve sürdürmek için stratejiler geliştirmelerine yardımcı olmayı hedeflemektedir. Araştırma bulguları, farklılaştırılmış ürün teklifleri ve büyüme stratejisinin freemium iş modelinin temel taşı olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Kullanıcı tabanını genişletmek, ücretsiz ve ücretli sürümler arasındaki dengenin korunması, inovasyona yatırım, stratejik iş ortaklıkları, sosyal ağlar ile etkileşim, kullanıcılardan iç görü elde etme ve uluslararasılaşma, freemium iş modelinin sürdürülebilir olabilmesi için kritik önem taşımaktadır. Son olarak, müşteri sadakatinin artırılması için değer tekliflerinin müşteri tarafından iyi algılanması gerekmektedir.
Anahtar Kelime: Freemium Freemium iş modeli Kanvas iş modeli

Belge Türü: Makale Makale Türü: Araştırma Makalesi Erişim Türü: Erişime Açık
  • 1. Amit, R., Zott, C. (2001). Value creation in e business. Strategic Management Journal, 22(6 7): 493-520, doi: 10.1002/smj.187
  • 2. Anderson, C. (2009). Free: The Future of a Radical Price, Hyperion, New York, NY
  • 3. Andries, P., Debackere, K. (2007). Adaptation and performance in new businesses: Understanding the moderating effects of independence and industry. Small Business Economics, 29(1–2): 81–99, doi: 10.1007/s11187- 005-5640-2
  • 4. Baden-Fuller, C. Haefliger, S. (2013). “Business models and technological innovation”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 46 No. 6, pp. 419-426, doi: 10.1016/j.lrp.2013.08.023
  • 5. Baxter, P., Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study Design and Implementation for Novice Researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13(4): 544- 556, doi: 10.46743/2160-3715/2008.1573
  • 6. BBC, (2014). Uber and Spotify launch car music playlist partnership. Erişim Adresi: https://www.bbc. com/news/technology-30080974
  • 7. Chesbrough, H. (2010). “Business model innovation: opportunities and barriers”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 43 Nos 2-3, pp. 354-363, doi:10.1016/ j.lrp. 2009.07.010
  • 8. Dyer Jr, W.G., Wilkins, A.L. (1991). Better stories, not beter constructs, to generate beter theory: A rejoinder to Eisenhardt. Academy of Management Review, 16(3): 613- 619, doi: 10.5465/amr.1991. 4279492
  • 9. Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989). Building Theories from Case Study Research. The Academy of Management Review, 14(4): 532-550, doi: 10.2307/258557
  • 10. Fan, M., Kumar, S., Whinston, A.B. (2007). Selling or advertising: Strategies for providing digital media online. Journal of Management Information Systems, 24(3): 143- 166.
  • 11. Gassmann, O., Frankenberger, K. Csik, M. (2015), The Business Model Navigator: 55 Models that Will RevolutioniseYour Business, Pearson Education, Harlow, UK.
  • 12. Holm, A.B., Günzel, F., Ulhøi, J.P. (2013). Openness in innovation and business models: Lessons from the newspaper industry. International Journal of Technology Management, 61(3/4): 324-348, doi: 10.1504/IJTM.2013.052674
  • 13. Kumar, V. (2014). Making "freemium" work. Harvard business review, 92(5): 27-29.
  • 14. Kumar, S., Sethi, S.P. (2009). Dynamic pricing and advertising for web content providers. European Journal of Operational Research, 197(3): 924-944.
  • 15. Lee, C., Kumar, V., Gupta, S. (2015). Designing freemium: Balancing growth and monetization strategies. SSRN, 2767135, doi: 10.2139/ssrn. 2767135
  • 16. Niculescu, M.F., Wu, D.J. (2014). “Economics of free under perpetual licensing: Implications for the software industry”, Information SystemsResearch, Vol. 25 No.1, pp. 173-199, doi: 10.1287/isre.2013. 0508
  • 17. O'Malley, S. (2015). “Free as a business”, SAGE Business Researcher. doi: 10.1177/2374556815621 290
  • 18. Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons
  • 19. Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • 20. Pauwels, K., Weiss, A. (2008). Moving from free to fee: How online firms market to change their business model successfully. Journal of Marketing, 72(3): 14-31.
  • 21. Prasad, A., Mahajan, V., Bronnenbergd, B. (2003). Advertising versus pay-per-view in electronic media. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 20(1): 13- 30.
  • 22. Picquendaele, L.D.C.D. (2016). Analysis of an innovative business model: the freemium and its applications. (Doktora tezi). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses veri tabanından erişildi.
  • 23. Seufert, E.B. (2014). Freemium economics: Leveraging analytics and user segmentation to drive revenue. Boston, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.
  • 24. Statisca (2020). Research and development costs of Spotify worldwide from 2013 to 2020. Erişim Adresi: https://www.statista.com/statistics/813751/spotify- research-development-costs/
  • 25. Teece, D.J. (2010). “Business models, business strategy and innovation”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 43 No. 2-3, pp. 172- 194, doi: 10.1016/j.lrp.2009.07. 003
  • 26. Timmers, P. (1998). Business models for electronic markets. Electronic markets, 8(2): 3-8.doi: 10.1080/ 10196789800000016
  • 27. Vannoni, M. (2014;2015). What are case studies good for? Nesting comparative case study research in to the lakatosian research program. Cross Cultural Research, 49(4): 331-357, doi: 10.1177/106939711 4555844
  • 28. Wagner, T.M., Benlian, A., Hess, T. (2014). Converting freemium customers from free to premium—the role of the perceived premium fit in the case of music as a service. Electronic Markets, 24(4): 259-268.doi: 10.1007/s12525- 014-0168-4
  • 29. Yin, R.K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
APA Tavman E (2022). The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. , 635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
Chicago Tavman E. Başak The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. (2022): 635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
MLA Tavman E. Başak The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. , 2022, ss.635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
AMA Tavman E The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. . 2022; 635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
Vancouver Tavman E The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. . 2022; 635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
IEEE Tavman E "The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders." , ss.635 - 642, 2022. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
ISNAD Tavman, E. Başak. "The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders". (2022), 635-642. https://doi.org/10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
APA Tavman E (2022). The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 23(2), 635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
Chicago Tavman E. Başak The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi 23, no.2 (2022): 635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
MLA Tavman E. Başak The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, vol.23, no.2, 2022, ss.635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
AMA Tavman E The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi. 2022; 23(2): 635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
Vancouver Tavman E The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders. Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi. 2022; 23(2): 635 - 642. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
IEEE Tavman E "The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders." Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 23, ss.635 - 642, 2022. 10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898
ISNAD Tavman, E. Başak. "The Success of Freemium Business Model: Multiple Case Studies of Industry Leaders". Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi 23/2 (2022), 635-642. https://doi.org/10.37880/cumuiibf.1063898