A Dynamic Growth Model for Focused Broadcasting over the Internet

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ho, James K.

Affiliations: Information and Decision Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, m/c 294, 601 South Morgan, Chicago, IL 60607, USA. E-mail: jimho@uic.edu

Abstract: As a significant segment of the Information Industries, classified advertising can be a prime example of how conventional businesses, rather than being simply transplanted to the New (digital) Media, may indeed be transformed for future growth. To be successful, such transformations must be able to take full advantage of the defining features of the emerging information infrastructure for innovative creation of economic value. Focused Broadcasting, a class of service for matching classified and want ads using the World Wide Web, is an approach that balances the push-pull dynamics of information over the Internet. Applying the concept of product introduction with complementary network externalities, a dynamic model is formulated to simulate the potential growth of such business in cyberspace. Robustness of the model is demonstrated.

Keywords: information dynamics, economics of information, network externalities, dynamic growth model, classified advertising, World Wide Web, diffusion of innovation

DOI: 10.3233/INF-1999-10301

Journal: Informatica, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 275-288, 1999