Consumer welfare of informative messages via mobile instant messenger: A case of KakaoTalk’s Info-Talk

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate consumer welfare created by informative messages via mobile instant messenger (MIM). In order to reach this goal, this paper attempted to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for a MIM’s service as a substitute for the existing texting-message service. Info-Talk, an informative message service provided by KakaoTalk, a major MIM in Korea, was employed as a research case, and conjoint analysis was used for a methodology for finding the WTP of informative messages via MIM. According to the result, an informative message via MIM provides 4.87 Korean Won’s (KRW) worth of service to users. When receiving an informative message via MIM using an LTE network, the maximum data charge generated by an informative message via MIM is KRW 2.864. This implies that the amount of the net welfare of informative messaging via MIM exceeds cost incurred by using it with the LTE network.