Research in Action 2019

Page 19

Falling Flat? Customer Uncertainty Plays a Key Role in Software Subscription Models by Alex D. Bennett

Because software can be used repeatedly without diminishing its value, standard economic theory treats it like a durable good. A conventional durable-goods vendor can optimize its profits by prioritizing subscription-based pricing. But software behaves differently than standard theory would suggest. Although durable-goods theory holds that software vendors should operate under a subscription model, in practice subscriptions have not shown clear advantages over the perpetual licensing model, even as its popularity continues to rise.

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