Pricing and personal data collection strategies of online platforms in the face of privacy concerns

Abstract

We consider a platform providing free content for users and earning profit from the sale of advertising. The platform can collect and analyze personal data to customize advertisements for individual users. Customization may alleviate users’ aversion to advertising, but it may also raise privacy concerns. Considering the platform as a two-sided market with asymmetric externalities, we investigate the effects of privacy concerns on the platform’s optimal advertising pricing and data collection strategies. We find that it is always beneficial for the platform to collect and analyze personal data. When users attach less concerns on privacy, the price increases with the efficiency of efforts and decreases with the initial nuisance cost of advertisements to users. However, if users attach more concerns on privacy, the price decreases with the efficiency of efforts and increases with the initial nuisance cost of advertisements to users.