Information Asymmetry and Hybrid Advertising
研究了互联网广告中按效果付费和按展示付费两种定价模式的混合使用，分析了高质量出版商在信息不对称下的最优选择，为出版商选择定价方案提供了理论指导。
Pay-for-performance (P4P) pricing schemes such as pay per click and pay per action have increased in popularity in Internet advertising. Meanwhile, pay-per-impression (PPI) schemes persist, and several publishers have begun to offer a hybrid mix of PPI and P4P schemes. Given the proliferation of pricing schemes, this study examines the optimal choices for publishers. The authors highlight two-sided information asymmetries in online advertising markets and the consequent trade-offs faced by a high-quality publisher using P4P schemes. Pay-for-performance schemes enable a high-quality publisher to reveal its superior quality; however, such schemes may incur allocative inefficiencies stemming from inaccurate estimates of advertiser qualities. The authors identify conditions under which a publisher may opt for a PPI, P4P, or hybrid scheme and, in doing so, provide theoretical explanations for the observed variations in the pricing schemes and the increasing popularity of hybrid schemes. Using a new “uncompromised” equilibrium refinement, the authors find that the hybrid scheme can emerge as an equilibrium choice in a variety of conditions. In addition, they provide prescriptive guidelines for firms choosing between different pricing schemes.